The cache location is Useful Island an island 3.2 km (2 miles) west of Rongé Island, with a string of rocks between, lying in Gerlache Strait off the west coast of Graham Land. It was discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, 1897–99, under Adrien de Gerlache. The name appears on a chart based upon a 1927 survey by Discovery Investigations personnel on the RRS Discovery. The island bedrock is Mesozoic granite. Gentoo and chinstrap penguins have rookeries on the top of the island.
The monument on the island is a beacon that is used to help with identification for navigation.
You may log this cache from land or from a ship visiting the Antarctica.
- With your log you must provide a photo with an unobstructed view toward Useful Island (GZ) that includes yourself or your caching name visibly written on something (see example of logging photo). If you fail to include a photo your log will be deleted.
- I would also appreciate it if you will include in your log the name of the ship that you traveled to the area on.
Some information about the area near the cache.
Paradise Harbor, also known as Paradise Bay, is a wide embayment behind Lemaire and Bryde Islands in Antarctica. The name was first applied by whalers operating in the vicinity and was in use by 1920. Argentina's Almirante Brown Antarctic Base stands on the coast of the bay, as does Chile's González Videla Antarctic Base. Paradise harbor is one of two mainland harbors used as a stop by cruise ships. The other is Neko Harbor. The mountains and gentoo penguins are the main reasons that it is a popular stop. Also, weather in the area is relatively mild, the nearby mountains shelter the bay from strong winds. The average annual temperature is 2 °C (36 °F) and the minimum historical record is −29 °C (−20 °F) on 9 August 1958.
González Videla Base is an inactive research station on the Antarctic mainland at Waterboat Point in Paradise Bay. It is named after Chilean President Gabriel González Videla, who in the 1940s became the first chief of state of any nation to visit Antarctica. The station was active from 1951–58, and was reopened briefly in the early 1980s. Occasional summer visits are made by Chilean parties and tourists.
On the north edge of the station there is a sign identifying Waterboat Point as an official historic site under the Antarctic Treaty.
This was the place where the smallest ever wintering-over party (two men) spent a year and a day in 1921-1922. The two men, Thomas Bagshawe and M.C. Lester, had been part of the British Imperial Expedition, but their particular project, which involved flying a number of aircraft to the South Pole, was aborted. Nevertheless, they decided to stay over for the winter and made their shelter in an old whaling boat they found on this site. Their time was not wasted because Bagshawe wrote the first scientific study of penguin breeding development. Today the gentoo penguins, probably descendants of the ones he studied, nest in the ruins of the whaleboat shelter.
The Almirante Brown Antarctic Base (also know as Brown Station or Brown Base) dates to April 1951, when Argentina established the Almirante Brown Naval Detachment at Paradise Harbor.
The Argentine Antarctic Institute took over the station in 1964–65, creating one of the most complete biology laboratories on the Antarctic Peninsula. Brown Station's original facilities were burned down by the station's doctor on 12 April 1984 after he was ordered to stay for the winter. Station personnel were rescued by the ship USS Hero and taken to United States' Palmer Station.
Argentina rebuilt the base but it was demoted to summer-only status. Brown was inactive for several years during the 2000s decade, but since 2007 is occupied during the summer. As of 2014 the base spans a total area of 1.4 ha (150,000 sq ft). It can house a maximum of 12 people. Throughout the years of research and observations at Brown, more than 100 scientific papers were published by the Argentine Antarctic Institute.
Refuge Conscripto Ortiz is an Argentine refuge in Antarctica located 230 meters from the Brown Station. The refuge was opened on January 29, 1956, and it is administered by the Argentine Navy. Its name pays homage to the conscript Mario Inocencio Ortíz who died, on March 15, during the Argentine Antarctic campaign of 1954–1955.
Thanks to its location on the Antarctica continent along the beautiful Paradise Harbor and to its relatively mild weather, Brown Station is a popular excursion destination for tourist expedition ships visiting Antarctica. In addition to visiting gentoo penguins, tourists may climb to a viewpoint 84 m (276 ft) above the station. Rather than walking down the steep slope, many visitors use the human bobsled course. All those visitors sledding downhill have created a ditch a few feet deep that makes for excellent sledding.
Neko Harbour is an inlet of the Antarctic Peninsula on Andvord Bay, situated on the west coast of Graham Land. Neko Harbour was discovered by Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache during the early 20th century. It was named for a Scottish whaling boat, the Neko, which operated in the area between 1911 and 1924.
Captain Fliess Refuge is an Argentine refuge in Antarctica located in Neko Harbour. The refuge was opened on April 4, 1949 and it is managed by the Argentine Navy. It was inaugurated together with the Penguin Observatory and the Rescue Station under the name of Refugio Neko. This name pays tribute to the Lieutenant of the ship Felipe Fliess of the Corvette Uruguay who rescued the Swedish Antarctic Expedition headed by Otto Nordenskjöld. The refuge was destroyed by a storm in 2009, was then rebuilt in 2011. Maintenance, repair and conservation of facilities were carried out so they can be used as support for scientific research.
Neko Harbour has been classified as an important bird and biodiversity area by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of more than 250 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins that nest on the hill near the beach to avoid risk of being washed away by the large waves frequently generated from the calving of the nearby glacier. Southern giant petrels and south polar skuas also nest here. The area has been also used by Weddell seals, which frequently haul out to rest.
Information collected form: Useful Island – Wikipedia, Paradise Harbour – Wikipedia, González Videla Antarctic Base – Wikipedia, Brown Station – Wikipedia, Paradise Bay – Wikipedia, Neko Bay – Wikipedia..
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.