Antarctic bay named after Professor Andrew Brierley

A bay in the Antarctic has been named after a University of St Andrews professor, who passed away in February this year, aged 56.

Brierley Bay, located on the southern coast of Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands, is named after Professor Andrew Brierley.

The naming of any geographic feature is a thorough process. The UK Antarctic Place-names Committee considers proposals and makes recommendations for place names within the British Antarctic Territory, which are then passed to the Commissioner of the British Antarctic Territory for endorsement.

The naming of features after individuals requires demonstrable evidence of significant and exceptional contribution to scientific understanding and/or life in the Antarctic; major contributions to Antarctic matters; contribution to government and policymaking with direct relevance to Antarctica; and an association of the person with the proposed feature.

The committee decided that Brierley Bay was a worthy and fitting name.

The proposal was submitted by Professor Geraint Tarling, Dr Sally Thorpe and Dr Nadine Johnston of the British Antarctic Survey. They had previously worked with Professor Brierley and wished to honour his huge contribution to Southern Ocean ecosystem science.

Professor Brierley was a pioneer in using autonomous platforms to investigate the distribution of Antarctic krill. This included using moored echosounders and leading the first deployment under sea ice in the Southern Ocean of one of the world’s first autonomous underwater vehicles (Autosub), specifically in the northwestern Weddell Sea.

This latter study was the first to demonstrate the wide-scale importance of sea ice for the life cycle of Antarctic krill. Professor Brierley was also the co-founder of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Krill Expert Group in 2017, which continues to serve as the primary link between the krill scientific research community and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

Kirsti Sharratt, Professor Brierley’s partner, said: “Andy would have been flabbergasted by the news but deeply honoured that there is a place in the world named after him. Along with the rest of his family, I would like to thank Sally, Geraint and Nadine at British Antarctic Survey for making this happen. The fact that Andy’s name will live on in the Antarctic is simply wonderful.”

The name is included in the UK Antarctic Gazetteer and is available for use on all maps and charts and in all publications. It is also included in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica.

For information about the Antarctic Place-names Committee and the location of Brierley Bay visit https://apc.antarctica.ac.uk/