SEA LION ISLAND 52°26’S 59°05’W
Sea Lion island is the southernmost inhabited island in the Falklands, Beuchene Island being the only island further south but now uninhabited. Lying 14 km (9 miles) southeast of Lafonia, East Falklands Sea Lion covers an area of 9.05 square kilometers (3.49 sq miles) and rises to an elevation on 46m (151ft) at Bull Hill.The Sea Lion Island group includes two smaller islands 'Brandy' and 'Whisky'. Steep cliffs rise to 30m on the south-western end of the island with sandy bays to the east. Tussac has been replanted, there is mature original tussac to the east but on the southern coasts it can be seen that tussac stands have been burnt, likely in the 19th century by sealers.
On a southern cliff there is a memorial cross remembering the loss of the destroyer HMS Sheffield, lost on 4th May 1982 during the conflict with Argentina when they hit her with an Exocet missile.
A farm house was built from a shipwreck the Vicount which came to grief on Sea Lion in 1892. but also was a sheep farm from 1904 to 1997. In 1990 the Falkland Islands Development Corporation bought the island from the current owners, the Clifton family, in 1997. All except a few sheep were removed and the island developed for ecotourism and scientific research. Fences were removed and a lodge able to accommodate 20 guests was built. In 2009 the island was declared a National Nature Reserve, it is also an Important Bird Area and was designated Ramsar Wetland (Wetlands of International Importance) status in 2001. 56 species of flowering plants have been recorded on Sea Lion, the most unusal of these being the Fuegian Violet Viola magellanica which grows no where else in the Falklands.
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Sea Lion sadly was used as a base for slaughtering penguins for oil in days gone by.
Today it is a haven for wildlife. A large colony of Elephant seals produce around 200 pups per year, and Sea Lions produce around 40 pups per year. Killer Whales are often seen offshore. |
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Birdlife is abundant and includes gentoo and Magellanic penguins, logger ducks, sooty shearwaters, striated caracara, southern giant petrels, Cobb's wren, and short-eared owls. |
Can you add/ correct any information or supply photographs or information , past or present/ life/ people/ buildings? Contact: falklands.southatlantic@gmail.com
Sources include: A Field Guide Wildlife of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia - Ian J Strange
Photographic credits: Alison Dodd, .Ondrej-Prosicky/ Shutterstock.com, Russ Evans |
    
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