Antarctic Sound

Antarctic Sound
Sea ice on Antarctic Sound
Coordinates	63°20′S 056°45′W / 63.333°S 56.750°W / -63.333; -56.750Coordinates: 63°20′S 056°45′W / 63.333°S 56.750°W / -63.333; -56.750
Max. length	30 miles (50 km)
Max. width	12 miles (19 km)

The Antarctic Sound is a body of water about 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) long and from 7 to 12 nautical miles (13 to 22 km; 8 to 14 mi) wide, separating the Joinville Island group from the northeast end of the Antarctic Peninsula. The sound was named by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskjöld for the expedition ship Antarctic which in 1902, under the command of Carl Anton Larsen, was the first vessel to navigate it. Since 2005 cruise ships have been visiting the area.

The Antarctic Sound is the stretch of water that separates Trinity Peninsula, the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, from the Joinville Island group which consists of D'Urville Island, Joinville Island, Dundee Island and the smaller Bransfield Island. The northern limit of the sound, where it joins the Bransfield Strait, is the line connecting Cape Dubouzet (63°16'S, 57°03'W) on Trinity Peninsula with Turnbull Point (63°02'S, 56°36'W) on D'Urville Island. The southern limit is the line connecting Cape Scrymgeour on Andersson Island (63°35'S, 56°26'W) with Cape Purvis on Dundee Island (63°35'S, 55°58'W). Close to the north of Andersson Island lies the smaller Jonassen Island, the two being separated by the Yalour Strait which joins the Antarctic Sound to the Erebus and Terror Gulf part of the Weddell Sea. The sound is 30 nautical miles (56 km) long and from 7 to 12 nautical miles (13 to 22 km) wide. The Tabarin Peninsula forms the southwestern coast of the Antarctic Sound and contains several bays, the main ones being Hope Bay and Trepassey Bay.