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Elephant Island

Elephant Island

Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, is named for its abundance of elephant seals and is home to. It became the unlikely home of Shackleton's crew for 105 days in 1916 after their ship Endurance was crushed in pack ice in the Weddell Sea. Living on penguins and limpets (no seals inhabited the area at that time) and taking shelter in an improvised hut made from two wooden boat hulls, they were rescued by Shackleton. He and five men had traveled more than 800 miles in an open boat to South Georgia Island to seek help. Today, elephant and Weddell seals, chinstrap, gentoo, and macaroni penguins can be found on the spit of land Shackleton's men name Point Wild.


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