Signy Island is a small antarctic island in the South Orkney Islands group at latitude 60°43' S and longitude 45°36' W. It is about 6.5 km long and 5 km wide and rises to 288 m above sea level. Much of the island is permanently covered with ice. The average temperatures top at 0°C and fall to about -10°C in winter (i.e., in July). The extrema reach about 12°C and -44°C, respectively.
The British Antarctic Survey maintains a scientific station for research in biology since March 18, 1947, on the site of an earlier whaling station that had existed there from 1912 to 1929. The station was staffed year-round until 1996. Since then, it is occupied only from November to April and houses some 10 people.
See also: Sub-antarctic islands
External link
BAS page on Signy (http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/Living_and_Working/Stations/Signy/)
Another page on Signy from the BAS (http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/About_Antarctica/Heritage/Stations/signy.html)
The other islands are the smaller Powell Island and SignyIsland as well as a few tiny ones named Saddle Islands.
Subsequently, the islands were frequently visited by sealers and whalers, but no thorough survey was ever done until the expedition of William Speirs Bruce on the Scotia in 1903, which overwintered at Laurie Island.
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