HEARD AND MCDONALD ISLANDS

officially Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands subantarctic island groups, together forming an external territory of Australia and lying in the southern Indian Ocean, 2,500 miles (4,000 km) southwest of Perth. Volcanic in origin, Heard Island is 27 miles (43 km) long by 13 miles (21 km) wide and rises to 9,005 feet (2,745 m) at Mount Mawson on Big Ben Mountain. Much of its surface is covered with snow and ice. It was discovered in 1833 by a British sealing vessel and later named for an American mariner, Captain John J. Heard. Colonies of elephant seals and penguins on Heard Island were exploited by hunters in the second half of the 19th century. Transferred from British to Australian control in 1947, it is inhabited intermittently by scientific-research parties. The McDonalds are a group of uninhabited rocky islets 25 miles (40 km) west of Heard Island.