West Point Island (originally known as Albatross Island; es, Isla Remolinos) is one 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 Dubouze ...

, lying in the north-west corner of the archipelago. It has an area of and boasts some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the Falklands. The island is owned by Roddy & Lily Napier and run as a sheep farm and tourist attraction.

Description

West Point Island lies off the north-west point of West Falkland. It is long with a maximum width of . Its dramatic west-facing cliffs are the highest in the Falklands, with the highest point at Cliff Mountain rising to . West Point Island Settlement, with its

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 pub ...

, lies on Westpoint Cove in the north-east. It is separated from West Falkland by a narrow channel called the Wooly Gut, which is a local reference to katabatic winds that often occur there. It lies south-east of the Jason Islands, the nearest being

South Jason Island South Jason is one of the Jason Islands in the north west Falkland Islands. In Spanish it is considered one of "Islas las Llaves" (eastern, Seal Rocks and North Fur Island). Such a distinction doesn't exist in English between the two groups of t ...

History

As with many locations around the Falkland Islands, in the early 19th century West Point was a popular site for slaughtering

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

s and penguins for oil. Literal overkill ended this industry in the area. The island was established as a sheep farm in 1879 by Arthur Felton, great uncle of Roddy Napier, the present owner.Wigglesworth, Angela. (1992) ''Falkland People''. Pub. Peter Owen.

Tourism

In February 1968, the late Lars-Eric Lindblad brought the Chilean government vessel ''Navarino'' to the Falklands with the first cruise tourists. This is widely recognized as the birth of Falklands tourism. The ''Navarino'' visited West Point Island and Mr. Lindblad started a long, close friendship with the Napier family. He also fell in love with their island and over the following 25 years helped turn it into one of the most popular cruise ship destinations outside the capital Port Stanley. Today West Point receives many expedition vessels every summer, their passengers taking Zodiacs and tenders ashore to explore this magnificent island. Large colonies of Black-browed albatrosses and Southern Rockhopper penguins, and the highest sea cliffs in the Falklands are the main attraction. Legendary West Point hospitality also awaits.

Flora and fauna

The Falklands endemic Felton's flower, which was named after the current owner's great uncle who discovered it, occurs in relative abundance. The island gardens have a fairly wide selection of introduced plants including

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

foxglove ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in shap ...

s, daisies, red hot pokers etc. Unusually for the Falklands, there are also a few trees. The West Point Island group, which includes nearby Gibraltar Rock, Low Island and Dunbar Island, has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (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,

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 ...

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 a ...

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,

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, blackish cinclodes,

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 finches. The waters around the islands are home to

Commerson's dolphin Commerson's dolphin (''Cephalorhynchus commersonii''), also referred to by the common names jacobita, skunk dolphin, piebald dolphin, panda dolphin, or tonina overa (in South America), is a small oceanic dolphin of the genus ''Cephalorhynchus'' ...

References

External links

*
Falklands photos, including West Point section
{{Falkland Islands topics, state=collapsed Islands of the Falkland Islands Important Bird Areas of the Falkland Islands Seabird colonies Penguin colonies