Danco Island
64°44' S, 62°37' W
On this site once stood British Base O – Danco Island.
The base was constructed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in February 1956 and remained occupied until February 1959. The main scientific research conducted here focused on topographic survey and geology.
Following a conservation survey of Britain’s disused bases in the Antarctic Peninsula in March 1994, this base was not selected as a historic site under the Antarctic Treaty. It was subsequently demolished and removed in April 2004 by the British Antarctic Survey, with assistance from AWG Construction Services Ltd, in compliance with the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty.
An associated refuge at Cape Reclus (Portal Point) was dismantled by the British Antarctic Survey in March 1996 and is now exhibited at the museum in Stanley, Falkland Islands.
Danco Island is a small island (only 1.6 km or 1 mile long) located at the southern end of the Errera Channel. The island was discovered by Gerlache's Belgica Expedition of 1897–99 and named after the expedition’s geophysicist, who died during the voyage. Danco was also home to the British Antarctic Survey's Station “O,” which was removed in 2004.
This small, rocky island features vertical cliffs rising 200 meters, offering spectacular views of the heavily crevassed glaciers on the mainland. This section of the Errera Channel is known for its beautiful rolled icebergs and is a hotspot for Minke and Humpback whales, which can often be heard from the shore. The island is also home to approximately 1,600 breeding pairs of Gentoo penguins, which nest from just above sea level all the way to the summit.
