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Marion Island lies at 46°52'34" South 37°51'32" East in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Marion Island is 19 km long by 12 km wide, and the two islands have a combined area of 316 square km and politically form part of South Africa's Cape of Good Hope Province. The islands are volcanic in origin, with Marion having many hillocks (secondary craters) and small lakes. Prince Edward Island has spectacular cliffs up to 490m high on its south western side.

	The volcanic interior mountains of Marion Island (Photograph courtesy of Frank Sokolic)

Marion is the higher of the two islands, and State President Peak, it's highest point at 1,230m, is permanently covered in snow and ice. It is surrounded by a large number of secondary craters, betraying its volcanic origin. There is little vegetation, except for lichen, in the island's centre. Elsewhere the vegetation is mainly mosses and ferns, and the terrain is very boggy. This is due to the abundant snow and rain. There are no trees, due to the persistent, strong westerly winds commonly termed the Roaring Forties.

Sunshine is rare, and the temperature falls below freezing in winter. In short, it is ideal for a weather station, though not its inhabitants. Most of the photographs on this page were taken during rare periods of fine weather, which should not be taken to be the norm.

Prince Edward Island from the north coast of Marion Island (Photograph courtesy of Graham Clarke)

You can find historic temperature data at this site.

The coastline is rocky, with thousands of Elephant Seals during the breeding season: some of the beaches are sandy, and occupied with King Penguin rookeries.

The islands are surrounded by huge Kelp beds which make navigation difficult.

Iceberg spotted at Marion Island, November 2001 (Photograph courtesy of Beneke de Wet)

Icebergs are rare at Marion, but the one above, and others, were spotted there in November 2001.

The islands were declared Special Nature Reserves by South Africa in 1995.

Wildlife

As well as the King Penguin, there are also colonies of Rockhopper, Macaroni and Gentoo Penguins. Skuas and Giant Petrels prey on the penguin rookeries, and Marion is also noted for it's King Cormorants, Sooty and Wandering Albatrosses and huge petrel populations.

In common with many other subantarctic islands, introduced species have decimated Marion's flora and fauna. Mice arrived with 19th century sealers, damaging plant and insect life, and the five cats introduceds to control them in 1949 had multiplied to 3,400 by 1977. Only due to a massive extermination programme have they been eradicated, and the petrel populations are now recovering. The diamond-backed moth (Plutella xylostella) has badly damaged the Kerguelen cabbage since its accidental introduction in 1986.