Photo: Wikimedia Commons
ANTARCTICA – Antarctica's geographic features are named after Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev and explorer Iglika Trifonova.
Known now as Valchev Bay and Cape Trifonova, the new names have already been published in the Directory of Bulgarian Geographical Names in Antarctica (Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer).
A sea cape with a rocky peak at the northeastern end of the Bulgarian coast on the island of Antarctica - Livingston, is named after Iglika Trifonova, a member of the Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition in 2003/2004 and subsequent seasons, for her particularly significant contribution to the promotion of Antarctica as an author of photo exhibitions and books.
Trifonova is the founding president of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) in Bulgaria, an organizer of educational events and a lecturer on polar topics in Bulgarian schools.
In 2022, she was included in a global ranking of 100 women in polar science who are inspiring the next generation of young researchers to become polar scientists.
Valchev Bay is a 180-metre-wide bay indented 220 meters into the northeastern end of the Bulgarian coast of Island Baykal, Livingston east of Cape Trifonova. It is named after journalist and lawyer Valchev of BTA, participant in the Bulgarian Antarctic expeditions in 2004/2005 and 2018/2019 seasons, for his particularly significant contribution to the promotion of Antarctica, and for his assistance in the acquisition of the Naval Research Vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) by Nikola Vaptzarov Naval Academy and the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute.
Valchev Bay and Cape Trifonova are in the Emona Bay of Antarctica. They were formed as a result of the retreat of the Perunika Glacier in the early 21st century. They were first mapped by the Military Geographic Service of the Bulgarian Army in 2016.
The proposal for naming the Bay and Cape of Antarctica was made by the Toponomic Board of the National Polar Institute in a decision on June 8.
More than 1,400 geographical objects on the Ice Continent bear Bulgarian names. (BTA)
