Editing Commonwealth Bay

{{Short description|Bay in Antarctica}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
[[File:F. Bickerton looking out over seas near Commonwealth Bay.jpg|right|thumb|A photoprint of Commonwealth Bay, taken during the [[Australasian Antarctic Expedition]] in 1912.|alt=An onlooker looks out over an ice-covered bay in Antarctica.]]
'''Commonwealth Bay''' is an open bay about 48&nbsp;km (30&nbsp;mi) wide at the entrance between [[Point Alden]] and [[Cape Gray]] in [[Antarctica]]. It was discovered in 1912 by the [[Australasian Antarctic Expedition]] under [[Douglas Mawson]], who established the main base of the expedition at [[Cape Denison]] at the head of the bay. The bay was named by the Expedition after the [[Commonwealth of Australia]].
[[File:Commonwealth Bay Antarctica.png|thumbnail|left|USGS satellite view of the Bay.]]

==Katabatic wind==
Commonwealth Bay is listed in both the ''[[Guinness Book of World Records]]'' and the Eighth Edition of the ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] [[Atlas]]'' as the windiest place on Earth, with winds regularly exceeding {{convert|240|km}} per hour and an average annual wind speed of {{convert|80|km}} per hour.

Storms are caused by [[katabatic wind]], a concentrated flow of cold air moving along the steep surface of the ice shield towards the sea.  The air flow is accelerated by the increasing gradient of the surface of ice and the cliff monolith at [[Cape Denison]]. In the summer there are periods of relative calm, but in the winter storms are especially strong and long lasting, and can start and end unexpectedly. An abrupt start and end to a storm might be accompanied by powerful whirlpools, and by expressive short-lived and fast-moving clouds along the coast line.<ref>{{citation |first = F.K. |last = Ball |title = The Katabatic Winds of Adelie Land and King George V Land. |date = 1956}}</ref>

Despite the extreme weather, the coast of the Bay is an important breeding area for [[Antarctic petrel]]s, [[emperor penguin]]s, and [[Adelie penguin]]s, which are preyed on by [[leopard seals]].

==Penguin population crash==
From 2011 to 2016, the population of a colony of Adelie penguins living on the bay crashed from 160,000 to 10,000. A giant iceberg the size of Rome got stuck, leaving the colony effectively landlocked.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/13/150000-penguins-killed-after-giant-iceberg-renders-colony-landlocked|title=150,000 penguins die after giant iceberg renders colony landlocked|first=Bonnie|last=Malkin|date=13 February 2016|website=The Guardian|accessdate=28 April 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091218043240/http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/2009/12/15/life-on-commonwealth-bay/ ''Life On Commonwealth Bay''] by [[Reuters]] journalist Pauline Askin
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/commonwealthbay/ Commonwealth Bay photographs] on [[Flickr]]

{{Coord|66|54|S|142|40|E|display=title}}

[[Category:Bays of George V Land]]
[[Category:Extreme points of Earth]]


{{GeorgeVLand-geo-stub}}