Sea Lion Island ( es, Isla de los Leones Marinos) is the largest of the Sea Lion Island Group of 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 ...

. It is in area. and lies southeast of Lafonia ( East Falkland). It was designated a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands
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 long from east to west and wide, with cliffs at the south-western point and sandy bays to the east. The highest point at is Bull Hill. 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, a small seal colony. Other small members of the group are Brandy and Whisky Islands. The geology is mainly

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

, 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 Beauchene Island is the southernmost of the Falkland Islands, lying about south of Porpoise Point in Lafonia. It was discovered in 1701 by Jacques Gouin de Beauchêne, after whom it was named. Geography Beauchene is the most isolated island ...

is located further south. Sea Lion Island Settlement is the southernmost settlement of the Falkland Islands. The island has an

airstrip An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

. Historically, Sea Lion Island was a

sheep farm Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin an ...

. When the British ship ''Viscount'' was wrecked in 1892, the wreckage was used to build the farmhouse. 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. In 1990, the Clifton family who owned the island, sold it to the

Falkland Islands Development Corporation The Falkland Islands Development Corporation (FIDC) is a quasi-autonomous, government-established, largely self-funding body responsible for encouraging the economic development of the Falkland Islands. It was set up in 1984 and is mainly funded f ...

(FIDC). They had planted 60,000 stands of tussac grass.Wigglesworth, Angela. (1992) ''Falkland People''. Pub. Peter Owen. 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 The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

helicopters and has proved to be a success. It is used by tourists and, since 1996, scientific researchers. 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 plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s have been recorded, including the Fuegian violet which, in the Falklands, is found nowhere else. The island is known for its marine mammals, including breeding colonies of

southern sea lion The South American sea lion (''Otaria flavescens'', formerly ''Otaria byronia''), also called the southern sea lion and the Patagonian sea lion, is a sea lion found on the western and southeastern coasts of South America. It is the only member ...

s and southern elephant seals, for which the other islands in the group are haul-out sites.

Killer whale The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pa ...

s are seen offshore. Elephant Seal Research Group (ESRG) has been tracking the habits of elephant seals at Sea Lion Island for over 20 years. Striated Caracara on Sealion Island

Birds

The Sea Lion 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 ...

. It is a significant breeding site for a variety of

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

s and other

waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

s including Falkland steamer ducks, ruddy-headed geese,

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 (2800 pairs), southern rockhopper penguins (480 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 ...

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 (25 pairs) and sooty shearwaters. It also supports populations of striated caracaras (10 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 wrens 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.

References

* Stonehouse, B (ed.) ''Encyclopedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans'' (2002, )

External links

Sealionisland.com

Falkland Islands, including Sea Lion island section

Long term study of Sea Lion Island elephant seals

{{Falkland Islands topics, state=collapsed Islands of the Falkland Islands Ramsar sites in British Overseas Territories Important Bird Areas of the Falkland Islands Seabird colonies