Sea Lion Island
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Sea Lion Island (Template:Langx) is the largest of the Sea Lion Island Group of the Falkland Islands. It is Template:Convert in area.<ref name=bli/><ref name="stamps"/> and lies Template:Convert southeast of Lafonia (East Falkland). It was designated a Ramsar site on 24 September 2001,<ref>Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands.</ref> and as an Important Bird Area (BirdLife International 2006). In 2017 the island was designated as a National Nature Reserve.
Description
Sea Lion Island is Template:Convert long from east to west and Template:Convert wide, with Template:Convert cliffs at the south-western point and sandy bays to the east.<ref name=bli/> The highest point at Template:Convert is Bull Hill.<ref name="stamps"/> East Loafers is the name of the bay on the southern shore. It also has a few ponds, including Beaver and Long Pond. Just to the south is Rum Island,<ref name=bli/> a small seal colony. Other small members of the group are Brandy and Whisky Islands.<ref name=bli/> The geology is mainly sandstone and mudstone, from about 250 million years ago. Some minor fossils have been found.
History
Sea Lion Island is the southernmost inhabited island of the Falkland Islands. Only formerly inhabited Beauchene Island is located further south. Sea Lion Island Settlement is the southernmost settlement of the Falkland Islands. The island has an airstrip. Historically, Sea Lion Island was a sheep farm. When the British ship Viscount was wrecked in 1892, the wreckage was used to build the farmhouse.<ref name="stamps"/>
The island was managed as a sheep farm for almost all of the 20th century, but in 1997 all but a small flock of sheep was removed.<ref name=bli/> In 1990, the Clifton family who owned the island, sold it to the Falkland Islands Development Corporation (FIDC). They had planted 60,000 stands of tussac grass.<ref name="Wigglesworth">Wigglesworth, Angela. (1992) Falkland People. Pub. Peter Owen. Template:ISBN</ref> Since then, ecotourism has been the only economic activity. In 1986 FIDC constructed the Sea Lion Lodge, with accommodation for 20 guests. It was prefabricated and flown in kit form to the island by Royal Air Force helicopters and has proved to be a success. It is used by tourists and, since 1996, scientific researchers.<ref name="stamps"/> Since 2017 the Lodge and island has been under the lease of Wild Falkland Ltd.
There is a memorial to HMS Sheffield on Bull Hill in the south of the island.
Flora and fauna
Some 56 species of flowering plants have been recorded, including the Fuegian violet which, in the Falklands, is found nowhere else.<ref name=bli/> The island is known for its marine mammals, including breeding colonies of southern sea lions and southern elephant seals, for which the other islands in the group are haul-out sites.<ref name=bli/> Killer whales are seen offshore.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, the Elephant Seal Research Group (ESRG) has been tracking the habits of elephant seals at Sea Lion Island.<ref>Template:Cite magazine (page 103 in PDF collection)</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Birds
The Sea Lion Islands Group has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area. It is a significant breeding site for a variety of seabirds and other waterbirds including Falkland steamer ducks, ruddy-headed geese, gentoo penguins (2800 pairs), southern rockhopper penguins (480 pairs), Magellanic penguins, southern giant-petrels (25 pairs) and sooty shearwaters. It also supports populations of striated caracaras (10 pairs), blackish cinclodes, Cobb's wrens and white-bridled finches.<ref name=bli>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
- Stonehouse, B (ed.) Encyclopedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans (2002, Template:ISBN)