![Falkland Islands - The Jason Islands (crop)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Falkland_Islands_-_The_Jason_Islands_%28crop%29.svg)
The Jason Islands (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
: ''Islas Sebaldes'') are an
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
in the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
, lying to the far north-west of
West Falkland
West Falkland ( es, Isla Gran Malvina) is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by the Falkland Sound. Its area is , 37% of the total area of the islands. Its coastli ...
. Three of the islands, Steeple Jason, Grand Jason and Clarke's Islet, are private nature reserves owned by the
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...
of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Other islands in the group are National Nature Reserves owned by the Falkland Islands Government.
Geography
![Jason Islands topographic map-en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Jason_Islands_topographic_map-en.svg)
The islands include
Steeple Island,
Grand Island,
Elephant Island
Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...
,
Flat Island and
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
.
*Steeple Jason Island runs south-east to north-west. A narrow neck of land breaks the island into two sections, both with steep slopes on both sides. The northern point has a wide low plateau which is an important area for breeding seabirds.
*Grand Island, the largest of the group, has a varied terrain with steep cliffs and high plateaux with gullies. There are
tussac-covered slopes facing west and south, with severely eroded areas, especially at the northern, south-eastern and western ends. At higher levels, tussac is sparse and there are low grasses and small cushion plants.
*Steeple Islet is generally low-lying and slopes towards a rocky north-western point. It is almost completely covered in dense tussac grass.
*Flat Jason Island is low-lying.
*Elephant Jason Island has a long ridge with a maximum height of . On the western coast there are sheer cliffs; on the northern and eastern coasts, the land slopes into low-lying plateaux covered with dense tussac. The tussac extends around most of the island except at the most northerly point, where there are areas of grass and heath. Early in the 20th century it was used as a base for government sealing inspectors.
*South Jason Island has a central ridge with a high point about .
*South Fur Island, about off the south coast of South Jason Island, is notable for its
dolerite
Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro,
is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained ...
boulders.
*North Fur lies east of Flat Jason. It has steep cliffs and has never been stocked, probably because access is difficult.
*Clarke's Islet is about off the north-eastern coast of Grand Jason Island.
*The Fridays are two small, low-lying islands about off the north-west coast of Flat Jason.
[
The Spanish name for the archipelago is Islas Sebaldes; however, this is sometimes subdivided into "Islas los Salvajes" (western, Grand Jason, and Steeple Jason) and "Islas las Llaves" (eastern, Flat Jason, Seal Rocks and North Fur Island),. No such distinction exists in English-language toponymy.
The Jason Islands are somewhat geologically distinct, described by Ian Strange as "sharply rising peaks give them a grandeur found in few other areas of the archipelago".
]
History
An archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
in the region of the Falkland Islands appeared on map
A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.
Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...
s from the early 16th century, suggesting they may have been sighted by Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
or another expedition of the 16th century. Amerigo Vespucci is believed to have sighted the islands in 1502, but did not name them. Both explorers were in Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
service. In 1519 or 1520, Esteban Gómez Esteban () is a Spanish male given name, derived from Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos) and related to the English names Steven and Stephen. Although in its original pronunciation the accent is on the penultimate syllable, English-speakers tend t ...
of the "San Antonio", one of Magellan's captains, deserted Magellan and encountered several islands, which members of his crew called "Islas de Sansón y de los Patos" ("Islands of Samson and of the Ducks"). Although these islands were probably the Jason Islands, the names "Islas de Sansón" (or "San Antón," "San Son," and "Ascensión") were used for the Falklands as a whole on Spanish maps during this period.
On 24 January 1600 Sebald De Weert
Sebald or Sebalt de Weert (May 2, 1567 – May 30 or June 1603) was a Flemish captain and vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company (known in Dutch as ''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'', VOC). He is most widely remembered for accurately p ...
, on his homeward leg back to the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
after having left the Straits of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...
, noticed some islands that did not exist on his nautical charts. He attempted to stop and replenish there, but was unable to land due to harsh conditions. The islands that Sebald de Weert charted were the present day Jason Islands. De Weert named these islands the "Sebald de Weert Eilanden" ("Sebald de Weert Islands" in English), which came to be known to the world as the Sebald Islands. Since 1766, these have been officially known as the "Jason Islands", in the Falklands and throughout the British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, although, the name "Sebald Islands" (or Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
versions "Islas Sebaldinas" or "Sebaldes" for short) remained in use for many years. Today the British name, "Jason Islands", is fairly universal, named after HMS ''Jason''.
Between 1864 and 1866, approximately two million rockhopper and gentoo penguins were killed on the Jasons and boiled to extract their oil.
In March 1970, the islands were bought by Len Hill. The Jason Islands were offered to Hill for £10,000, which included sheep that had been stocked by the previous owner. After some negotiation, he bought the islands for £5,500 without the sheep. Hill once issued some now sought-after Jason Islands banknotes in the name of the islands to raise money for conservation there. The notes were valid until the 31 December 1979 and were signed by "Len Hill – Administrator".
In the 1990s, two of the Jason Islands, Steeple Jason Island and Grand Jason Island, were bought by New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
philanthropist Michael Steinhardt
Michael H. Steinhardt (born December 7, 1940) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager, philanthropist, and former antiquities collector. In 1967, he founded a hedge fund, Steinhardt Partners which he ran until he closed it in 1995. After a ...
, who later donated them to the Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and is the largest metropolitan zoo in ...
based Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...
along with US$425,000 to build a conservation station named after himself and his wife Judy.
Population
In modern times none of the Jason Islands has been permanently inhabited, but temporary or seasonal inhabitants have lived on them.
In the 1920s a police house was provided, and a resident constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
of the Falkland Islands Police maintained a security presence on the islands, chiefly to prevent foreign seal poaching.
Through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, until the 1980s, several of the islands were also used for grazing sheep, and some cattle. Some buildings remain on the islands from that era, including cottages and sheep shearing sheds.
Some scientific research personnel live temporarily on the islands. In particular, Steinhart Station, constructed in 2003, is an important field research station on Steeple Jason for monitoring wildlife.
Wildlife
The Jason Islands are home to the striated caracara
The striated caracara (''Phalcoboenus australis'') is a bird of prey of the family Falconidae. In the Falkland Islands, it is known as the Johnny rook, probably named after the Johnny penguin ( gentoo penguin).
Description
The adults' plumage is ...
, albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...
es, Antarctic skua
The brown skua (''Stercorarius antarcticus''), also known as the Antarctic skua, subantarctic skua, southern great skua, southern skua, or hākoakoa (Māori), is a large seabird that breeds in the subantarctic and Antarctic zones and moves furth ...
s and fur seal
Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds belonging to the subfamily Arctocephalinae in the family '' Otariidae''. They are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and share with them external ears (pinnae), relatively lon ...
s.
Important Bird Area
The Jason Islands group has been identified by BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
as an Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA). Birds for which the site is of conservation significance include Falkland steamer duck
The Falkland steamer duck (''Tachyeres brachypterus'') is a species of flightless duck found on the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The steamer ducks get their name from their unconventional swimming behaviour in which they flap the ...
s, ruddy-headed geese (10 breeding pairs), gentoo penguin
The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus ''Pygoscelis'', most closely related to the Adélie penguin (''P. adeliae'') and the chinstrap penguin (''P. antarcticus''). The ear ...
s (12,000 pairs) southern rockhopper penguin
The southern rockhopper penguin group (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), is a species of rockhopper penguin, that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian O ...
s (140,000 pairs), macaroni penguin
The macaroni penguin (''Eudyptes chrysolophus'') is a species of penguin found from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. One of six species of crested penguin, it is very closely related to the royal penguin, and some authorities conside ...
s (10 pairs), Magellanic penguin
The Magellanic penguin (''Spheniscus magellanicus'') is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Patagonia, including Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil and Uruguay, where they are occasionally seen as ...
s, black-browed albatross
The black-browed albatross (''Thalassarche melanophris''), also known as the black-browed mollymawk,Robertson, C. J. R. (2003) is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae; it is the most widespread and common member of its family.
T ...
es (210,000 pairs), southern giant petrel
The southern giant petrel (''Macronectes giganteus''), also known as the Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot, is a large seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly with the similar northern giant pet ...
s (1500 pairs), striated caracara
The striated caracara (''Phalcoboenus australis'') is a bird of prey of the family Falconidae. In the Falkland Islands, it is known as the Johnny rook, probably named after the Johnny penguin ( gentoo penguin).
Description
The adults' plumage is ...
s (250 pairs), blackish cinclodes
The blackish cinclodes (''Cinclodes antarcticus'') is a passerine bird of the genus ''Cinclodes'' belonging to the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is native to the southern tip of South America including the Falkland Islands where it is known as ...
, Cobb's wren
Cobb's wren (''Troglodytes cobbi'') is a fairly small (12-13.5 cm) wren which is endemic to the Falkland Islands. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the house wren (''Troglodytes aedon'') but is now commonly considered to be a sep ...
s and white-bridled finch
The white-bridled finch (''Melanodera melanodera''), also known as the canary-winged finch or black-throated finch, is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus '' Melanodera'' together with the yellow-bridled finch (''M. xanthogramma''). Fo ...
es.
Conservation issues
"Steeple and Grand Jason were stocked with cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
and up to 5,000 sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
from the late 19th century to about 1968." Overgrazing
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...
has left parts of these two islands badly eroded. Elephant Jason was stocked from 1967 to 1971. Since then, the sheep have been removed and the islands have been managed as nature reserves. Fire has been a problem on South Jason. Apart from an infestation of mice
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
on Steeple Jason, the islands in the group are free of introduced predators.[
They are now run as a ]nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
.
References
External links
Jason Islands paper money
New York Philanthropist Donates Two Islands for Conservation
*
{{coord, -51.077, -60.969, dim:50000_region:FK, display=title
Islands of the Falkland Islands
Important Bird Areas of the Falkland Islands
Seabird colonies
Penguin colonies