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| Falklands | |||
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Falklands Natural History Voyages Falklands - South Georgia - Antarctic Peninsula |
The Falkland Islands are a remote sub-Antarctic archipelago in the South Atlantic, (population 2,500) that lie in the South Atlantic on the equivalent latitude to London, England, about 650km off the coast of South America and 1600km from Antarctica. This remote archipelago of 700 islands covers an area half the size of Wales and they are home to vast colonies of breeding seabirds, including: king, rockhopper, gentoo, macaroni and Magellanic penguins, Southern Giant Petrels, black-necked swan and the upland goose, which are seen grazing along the side of Stanley Harbour. The Islands are home to two endemic birds, the Cobb's Wren and the Falkland Steamer Duck and 14 out of the 160 native flowering plants are also endemic. Conservation of this wilderness been hindered by the introduction of many introduced pests, the Norway rat being one such species. These rats can even swim between the islands increasing the problem of irradiation. The rat is particularly detrimental to ground nesting birds. Like South Georgia, the Falklands are covered in dense or mixed tussac grass, perfect for birds such as the thin-billed prions, sooty shearwaters and small petrels and the magellanic penguin and areas of rock outcrop which provide nesting areas for other birds such as red-backed buzzards, ground tyrants and peregrine falcons. The waters around the Islands are home to a long list of whale and dolphins, some that visit annually, others that stay all year around. It is possible to see species such as; commerson's, Peale's, hourglass, and dusky dolphins, long-finned pilot whales, Orca, spectacled porpoise and even sperm, southern right, humpback and pygmy right whale, amongst others.
Photos kindly provided by: Chloe Burnett & Per Y. Lidvall> |
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