Robertson Islands

The Robertson Islands or Robertsons Islands are a group of islands extending 6 km southward of the south-eastern extremity of Coronation Island in the South [Orkney Islands] of Antarctica. They were discovered and roughly charted by Captains George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer in December 1821 and named by James Weddell in 1823.

Important Bird Area

The northern islands of the group, including Matthews, Coffer, Steepholm and Skilling Islands with their associated islets and skerries, have been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because they support substantial breeding colonies, totalling about 35,000 pairs, of chinstrap penguins. Snow petrels also breed in the area of the Divide – the narrow channel separating Matthews from Coronation Island at the northern limit of the IBA.