The beach features
Bilyar Point 1.7 km (1.1 mi) northeast of Nedelya Point,
Mneme Lake just west of Rowe Point and a minor point 1.1 km (0.68 mi) southwest of the latter. The beach is protected by shallows, and numerous offshore rocks and islets with the largest of them being
Cutler Stack off Nedelya Point.
Remnants of huts, boats and other sealer equipment and belongings are still present at a number of Byers Peninsula sites, which have become the subject of systematic archaeological research. Some 26 human shelter structures have been identified there, the nearest ones to Ivanov Beach situated east of Sparadok Point.[8] However, the beach itself is believed to have been visited only very rarely (one such visit was to Nedelya Point by a field party from the British base camp
Station P during the season 1957/58[9]), and deemed free of non-native plants. In order to protect its pristine environment, the beach has been placed under a particularly strict
biosecurity regime.[10]
Protection status
Except for its offshore islets and rocks, in 2016 Ivanov Beach was incorporated in an enlarged
Antarctic Specially Protected AreaASPA 126 Byers Peninsula, and further designated within it as a restricted zone of scientific importance to Antarctic
microbiology, with greater restriction placed on access with the aim of preventing microbial or other contamination by human activity.
Inland from the beach, the restricted zone includes also the northern part of the ridge
Urvich Wall, and the adjacent glaciated area on the west and northwest slopes of Rotch Dome bounded on the east by longitude 60°53′45″W, on the south by latitude 62°38′30″S and on the west by longitude 60°58′48″W.[10]
Certain vectors of alien species transmission remain unchecked though, including the wood and plastic
marine debris,[11] more abundant on northerly Livingston beaches due to their exposure to Drake Passage.[10]
Isla Elefante a Isla Trinidad. Mapa hidrográfico a escala 1:500000 - 1:350000. Valparaíso: Instituto Hidrográfico de la Armada de Chile, 1971
Islas Shetland del Sur de Isla 25 de Mayo a Isla Livingston. Mapa hidrográfico a escala 1:200000. Buenos Aires: Servicio de Hidrografía Naval de la Armada, 1980
Islas Livingston y Decepción. Mapa topográfico a escala 1:100000. Madrid: Servicio Geográfico del Ejército, 1991
Península Byers, Isla Livingston. Mapa topográfico a escala 1:25000. Madrid: Servicio Geográfico del Ejército, 1992. (Map image on p. 55 of the linked study)
L.L. Ivanov et al.
Antarctica: Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands (from English Strait to Morton Strait, with illustrations and ice-cover distribution). Scale 1:100000 . Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005
Antarctic Digital Database (ADD). Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly upgraded and updated
In fiction
Ivanov Beach is part of the mise-en-scène in the Antarctica
thriller novelThe Killing Ship authored by
Elizabeth Cruwys and
Beau Riffenburgh under their joint alias
Simon Beaufort in 2016. A landmark locality in the course of a modern-day plot with action spreading westwards from
Hannah Point, skirting
Verila Glacier and
Rotch Dome in the process, and eventually reaching Robbery Beaches and
Villard Point on Byers Peninsula, the beach is shown on a sketch map of Livingston Island illustrating the book.[13][14]
^R. Lewis Smith and H. Simpson. Early Nineteenth century sealers' refuges on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 74 (1987). pp. 49–72
^G.J. Hobbs. Map showing the physiography, geological station numbers and the survey routes on Livingston Island. In:
The geology of Livingston Island . Scientific Report No. 47. British Antarctic Survey, 1963. Figure 1