Hooker Island (Russian: остров Гукера; Ostrov Gukera) is an island located in the central area of the Franz Josef Archipelago at . It is administered by the Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. The highest point in the island is 576 m. On the island's western side there is a bay in an unglaciated area, Tikhaya Bay (Бухта Тихая, ). This place was the site of a major base for polar expeditions, and the location of a meteorological station from 1929 to 1963. There is another bay in the south of the island called Zaliv Makarova and another in the east known as Ledn. Eleniy. Hooker Island's northwestern cape, Mys Alberta Markama, is named after Sir Albert Markham; the northeastern cape is called Mys Lyuis Pul. The westernmost cape is Mys Dandy and the southwestern one is Mys Ugol'nyy. The southernmost cape is called Mys Sesil Kharmswort. The island was visited by the Graf Zeppelin airship in July 1931 during a landmark aerial survey. Staff were marooned here from 1941 to 1945 during World War II. A graveyard and two modern buildings exist. A large seabird colony exists near Tikhaya Bay at Skala Rubini (Скала Рубини, Rubini Rock, ), a spectacular rock formation on Hooker Island's shore. This place is the home of many birds. There is a river in the unglaciated section of the island known as Helena River. Hooker Island was named after British naturalist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker who went with James Clark Ross' expedition on ships Erebus and Terror to Antarctica in 1839. Remains of a plesiosaur (Peloneustes philarchus) have been found in Hooker Island. Caribou antlers have been found as well, suggesting that herds reached here up to about 1,300 years ago during a period where the earth had a warmer climate. Hooker Island in the Franz Joseph Archipelago has no relation whatsoever with the "Hooker Island" controversy in Toronto, Canada.
Adjacent islands
- Ostrov Li-Smita (Остров Ли-Смита), Leigh-Smith Island lies east of Hooker island, separated from it by a 6 km wide sound called Proliv Smitsona. Its highest point is 309 m and its surface is wholly glacierized except for a small area at its northern point and another around Mys Bitterburga, its southermost cape. This island is named after British yachtsman and explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith.
- Close to Leigh-Smith Island, off Hooker island's northeastern shore there is a smaller island known as Royal Society Island, named after the Royal Geographical Society. (lat 80.2667 N, long 53.7333)
- Ostrov Skott-Kyelti (Остров Скотт-Келти), Scott-Keltie Island, highest point 64 m, is an island off Bukhta Tikhaya, in the northwest of Hooker Island. This island was named in honor of Sir John Scott Keltie (1840-1927), Scottish geographer.
- Ostrov Iton (Остров Итон), Eaton Island, is a small, 3 km long island lying 10 km to the west of Scott-Keltie Island. This island appears as Ostrov Itol in many Russian maps. This island was named after British scientist Rev. Alfred Edvin Eaton (1844-1929), who studied the Arctic flora and fauna and travelled to Svalbard and Kerguelen.
- Ostrov Niutona (Остров Ньютона), Newton Island, is a small island located 11 km due south off Hooker Island's southern shore. This island was named in honor of Sir Isaac Newton.
- Ostrov Mey (Остров Мей), May Island, is a double small island lying 5 km off Hooker Island's southwestern shores.
- Ostrova Eteridzh (Острова Этеридж), the Etheridge Islands, are a group of two small islets located about 6 km west of May Island. These islands were named in honor of American scientist Richard Emmett Etheridge who studied the Paleontology of the coasts of the Arctic lands visited by the British Expedition under Captain Sir George Nares.
References
- All locations: [1]
- William Barr, The First Tourist Cruise in the Soviet Arctic
- Pictures: [2], [3], [4], [5]
- Joseph Dalton Hooker: [6]
- Paleontology: [7]
- Ryabinin, A. N.; 1936; A vertebra of a plesiosaur from Franz-Joseph Land; Trudy Arkticheskogo Instituta; 58 pp.143-146
- Rubini Rock: [8]
- Toronto "Hooker Island": [9]
- Benjamin Leigh Smith: [10]
