Saunders Island is a crescent-shaped island long, lying between Candlemas Island and Montagu Island in the South Sandwich Islands, apart of the United Kingdom. It is a volcanic island composed of an active stratovolcano, Mount Michael. It's known to have erupted explosively in 1819, and has erupted repeatedly since 2000, most recently in 2005. The diameter summit crater is thought to possibly contain an active lava lake, one of only a handful in the world.
Saunders Island was discovered in 1775 by Captain James Cook, who named it for Sir Charles Saunders, First Lord of the Admiralty. It was charted in greater detail by Bellingshausen in 1819, and in 1930 by DI personnel on the Discovery II. <sup>[clarification needed]</sup>