Saunders Island, Falkland Islands

Coordinates: 51°20′34″S 60°10′50″W / 51.34278°S 60.18056°W / -51.34278; -60.18056
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Saunders Island
Isla Trinidad
UTC−3 (FKST
)
If shown, area and population ranks are for all islands and all inhabited islands in the Falklands respectively.

Saunders Island (

sheep farm
.

The island has an area of 131.6 km2 (50.8 sq mi) and a coastline of 106.8 km (66.4 mi).[2] It is about 21 km (13 mi) from east to west and almost that distance from north-east to south-west. It consists of three peninsulas linked by narrow necks, and it has three large upland areas. The highest point, Mount Richards, is 457 m (1,499 ft) high.[3]

History

Port Egmont on the island was the site of the first British settlement, established in 1765.

Unaware of the French presence at

George III. A British settlement was built at Port Egmont in 1766. Also in 1766, Spain acquired the French colony, and after assuming effective control in 1767, placed the islands under a governor subordinate to Buenos Aires
.

During the

airstrip
.

There is one listed building here, known as the Stone House.[4] There are permanent structures outside the Settlement with heat, electricity and running water for the island's tourist industry. There is a building that holds eight guests at the Neck and an additional building that holds four guests called the Rookery Inn. The island is currently owned by the Pole-Evans family that maintains the farm at the Settlement.

Conservation

The isthmus of The Neck with rockhoppers
Commerson's dolphins swimming near the shore

Conservation issues include the danger of fire, some erosion prone areas near the coast, overgrazing and the presence of feral cats, mice, rats and rabbits. Clearance of these introduced species is unlikely in the near future because of the size of the island and the varied geography. Spear thistle, accidentally introduced to the island, is a problem; volunteers from Falklands Conservation continue to help control the infestation and there are hopes that the plant can eventually be eradicated.[5] There is a small breeding colony of southern elephant seals at Elephant Point, while a few southern right whales come into bays to rest or feed.

Important Bird Area

Saunders Island has been identified by

king penguins, gentoo penguins (6700 pairs), southern rockhopper penguins (6900 pairs), magellanic penguins (4200 pairs), black-browed albatrossess (11,000 pairs) and white-bridled finches.[3] The island is near the southernmost range limit of the Magellanic penguin,[6] while gentoos range much further south into Antarctica. The island also supports near threatened striated caracaras, who closely associate with the abundant seabird colonies at the island's primary isthmus during austral summer.[7] The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society's members conducted a complete coastal survey in 1995.[3]

References

  • Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean. 1985. ed. Simon Collier, Cambridge University Press, London
  • Falkland Islands Information Web Portal. 2006. Buildings and Structures in the Falkland Islands designated as being of Architectural or Historic Interest
  • C. Michael Hogan. 2008. Magellanic Penguin, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
  • Stonehouse, B (ed.) Encyclopedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans (2002,
    ISBN 0-471-98665-8
    )

Footnotes

  1. ^ Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean. 1985
  2. ^ Eurosion: D2.1.1 Inventory Report, page 122.
  3. ^ a b c "Saunders Island". Important Bird Areas factsheet. BirdLife International. 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  4. ^ "Falkland Islands Information Web Portal". Buildings and Structures in the Falkland Islands designated as being of Architectural or Historic Interest. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2008
  7. PMID 29610663
    .

External links
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