Gold Harbour

This article is about the bay on the island of South Georgia, which is east of the southern tip of South America. For the former mining town in the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia, Canada, see Gold Harbour, British Columbia.

Gold Harbour
Puerto de Oro (Spanish)
Penguins at Gold Harbour
A map showing the location of Gold Harbour in South Georgia
A map showing the location of Gold Harbour in South Georgia
Gold Harbour
LocationSouth east coast of South Georgia
Coordinates54°37′33″S 35°56′16″W / 54.62583°S 35.93778°W / -54.62583; -35.93778
TypeBay
Gold Harbour and Bertrab Glacier

Gold Harbour (Spanish: Puerto de Oro) is a small bay 5 miles (8 km) south-southwest of Cape Charlotte, with Bertrab Glacier at its head, along the east end of South Georgia. During the early 1900s, the feature was variously called "Anna's Bay", "Gold-Hafen" or "Sandwich Bay"; the latter name has also been used for Iris Bay. The approved name appears to have taken root through common usage by sealers and whalers and is now well established.[1]

Gold Harbour is so called because the sun's rays make the cliffs yellow with their light in the morning and evening. There is no particular historical or geological reason to give Gold Harbour its mineral name, which was in common use among the early sealers. Perhaps they were inspired by the sunsets.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference gnis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).