Islands of the Southern Ocean
Sometimes described as the fifth
ocean, or as the Antarctic Ocean, the Southern Ocean comprises the southern circumpolar waters of the Atlantic, Indian
and Pacific oceans where they converge to wrap around the continent of Antarctica.
Technically it has been described as comprising all those waters existing south of the lattitide of 60° South. Although traditional definitions are often loose (and can include waters lapping the southern coasts of Australia), for the purposes of this Atlas the boundaries are extended north of 60° S to include the islands of the far southern Indian and Atlantic oceans — islands which have traditionally been studied by Antarctic researchers and explorers.