Falkland Islands - Inseln am Ende der Welt

The Falkland Islands were visited by Charles Darwin in the 19th Century and, like the Galapagos, were found by him to contain examples of flora and fauna, not found elsewhere. These discoveries in the context of the isolation of the islands in which they were found prompted thoughts in Darwin, which were ultimately to find shape in his iconoclastic work, Origin of Species. Some of these discoveries, like the warrah, the once common Falkland Islands fox, have now disappeared, but others remain. These include birds such as the Cobbs wren, plants such as the colourful Felton’s flower, falklands false plantain and an inhabitant of our unique geological stone runs - the fascinating snake plant. Common here in the islands, yet approaching extinction throughout the rest of the world, are species such as the striated caracara and the ruddy-headed goose, tame enough to make for some superb photo opportunities.
Gentoo penguins are ashore all year around. They don’t undertake a winter migration and the antics of their chicks at breeding sites keep visitors entertained from November through to January. Magellanic and rockhopper penguins do migrate, but arrive back in the islands in mid October, having travelled as far as Brazil in some cases. Their breeding and chick-rearing cycle follows that of the gentoo penguins.

King penguins also remain in the Falkland Islands all year round but their feeding trips get longer the older their chicks are, often leaving almost adult sized fluffy chicks ashore over the long winter months. Typically either one chick is reared every two years or two chicks every three years, a completely different pattern from the other penguin species. Also to be found here is our fifth, slightly more elusive penguin, the macaroni, breeding in much lower numbers amongst rockhopper colonies, but visible to the more experienced eye. They too can be spotted from October through to February.

Black-browed albatross, however, are undoubtedly the seabird highlight for many visitors to Falkland shores. These fantastic birds breed here from october to april, in numbers unequalled anywhere in the world, rearing their huge downy chicks in some of the wildest spots around the islands.

Almost as large as the albatross and just as superb in flight are the giant petrels or "stinkers" as they are known locally. Very shy and easily disturbed in their scattered breeding sites, these ocean-wandering scavengers are a common sight in Stanley. Using the up-draught from the harbour wall, they effortlessly keep pace with the vehicular traffic along Ross Road without needing to flap their wings. At the other end of the scale of flying ability is the Falklands flightless steamer duck, which, as its name implies, simply doesn’t.

Of Falklands mammals, the most obvious, first by their smell and then by their size, are the giant elephant seals. The males come ashore in late August to early September and find territories on the breeding beaches. Females join them and are gathered into harems, most spectacularly seen on Sea Lion Island. Pups are born from late September through to late October and can be seen around the beaches until december. After this, through January and February, the furry southern sea lion pups can be seen, at many sites on both east and west Falkland and the offshore islands.
The check list of breeding seal species is completed by the Falkland Islands fur seal, which is found most spectacularly on the Eddyson Rock, a solitary stack at the northern entrance to the falkland sound, as well as on some of the scattered islands of the West Falklands. An occasional visitor to Falklands beaches is the solitary leopard seal.
For the eagle-eyed and the patient watcher, pods of killer whales can often be seen offshore around breeding seal colonies throughout the summer. These incredible beasts are often seen from Sea Lion, Pebble and Saunders Islands, cruising around waiting for a meal. Also frequently seen offshore are the Commerson’s and Peale's dolphin, following small boats into harbours around the islands all year round.

There is also plenty to be seen through the winter months. Black-throated finches, endemic to the islands, siskins, Falkland thrushes, Cobb's and grass wrens and tussacbirds are around all year around, as are both the striated and crested caracara. Black-necked swans, coscoroba swans can all be seen in larger numbers than throughout the summer months. They gather together in non-breeding groups on many inland pools and lakes. Winter is also the time to see huge numbers of migratory birds, sanderlings, white-rumped sandpiper and Bairds sandpiper to name but a few.

Whatever the time of year, whatever your particular interest, in terms of wildlife and sheer natural wilderness, the Falklands always has something to offer.



People


To say that the people of the Falklands are British is both an understatement and at the same time, an over-simplification. Everywhere in the Islands' capital Stanley, there is evidence of our British roots: pubs, neat gardens in front of Jubilee Villas, British 'bobbies', red mail boxes, the union flag outside Government House, street names.

The Falkland Islands has no recorded evidence of an original indigenous population, but has experienced a number of waves of settlement and immigration in its relatively short history. The biggest early influx of British people came in the 1840s when the importation of a sizeable contingent of Royal Marines and military pensioners made easier the task of governing what was at first a polyglot mixture of South American gauchos, shipwrecked mariners of all nations, sealers, whalers and adventurers. The many members of the Biggs, Short and Felton families living in the Falklands today trace their ancestry back as far as seven generations to those early pioneers.


Open the telephone directory and Scottish names are there in plenty : McLeods, Morrisons, Mackays, McCallums. Many of their ancestors arrived in the Islands to be shepherds, with the introduction of sheep in the late 1800's. Ironically it was because of the introduction of sheep that many were cleared from their native highlands and islands. Maybe it was this rejection by their native land that caused these hard-working, thrifty and industrious folk to abandon so much of their own traditions to absorb much of the horse-centred work and life style of the South American gaucho cattle herders who preceded them. If Stanley has always been obviously British, 'The Camp' the generic term for everywhere else in the Falklands, has always had a distinctly South American flavour. Many of the place names like Rincon Grande, Dos Lomas, Cantera, Tranquilidad, Laguna Isola and Saladero illustrate this, particularly in East Falklands.


Look a little closer at today's Falkland Islands phone book and other influences come to light. Names like Clausen, Henrickson, Pettersson and Bernsten represent a once strong Scandinavian presence, descendants of 19th century sailors who jumped ship or were signed off in Stanley after bruising encounters with Cape Horn.

For many years the farms looked to Chile when short of labour, but now, while there are still some Chileans in the Camp, the members today's Chilean community in the Falklands are more likely to be found in Stanley working in electronics or other technical callings.


Since 1982, of course, the Islands have had a much larger British military presence, with some two thousand souls living at the Mount Pleasant air base complex. Not all of these are military personnel of course, but civilian employees of the MOD or contractors responsible for the provision and maintenance of services at the base. The military for the most part rotate every four months, but the civilians, many of whom hail either from Glasgow in Scotland or from the tiny Atlantic Ocean island of St. Helena form a much more permanent community.

Given chronic unemployment on St.Helena for many years, an increasing number of the 'saints' as they are known, have in recent years opted to leave the warmth of their island home for better job prospects and a more secure future in the windier and cooler Falklands. Over time some have drifted from the relative bleakness of the Mount Pleasant air base to live and work in Stanley, where they are beginning to integrate fully into Falklands society.

With the Islands wealth relying since the mid 1980's on the efforts of Spanish, Chilean, Korean and Japanese fishermen rather than sheep farmers, Stanley has once again returned to its historical roots as a cosmopolitan port in whose streets and pubs many different languages may be heard. While remaining true to their own British traditions and institutions, this cultural diversity is welcomed by the majority of the Islands' population, which may always have been isolated, but has never been insular.