BEACHES

The Falkland Islands, made up of East and West and 776 smaller islands, have a coast line estimated at 800 miles (1,300 km). The coast varies from deeply indented sheltered harbours or low-lying gently sloping beaches to long sandy white beaches. On West Falkland dramatic cliffs rise vertically to 213m (700ft) on its west, northwest and southwest aspects.

beach2 beach-rob boulders Rocky-beach beach-robert-Maddocks mussel-beach Beach mussel shells and kelp- photograph Robert Maddocks low-tide-fbe Low tide Fox Bay East- Robert Maddocks four-mile-beach-pebble-island--Steve-Allen Four mile beach Pebble Island- Steve Allen/Shutterstock.com The south west has stacks and bluffs. Much of the lower lands of southern East Falkland have rocky, gently sloping beaches. There are creeks and estuaries on both East and West Falkland, and all around the Falklands there are rocky headlands with low cliffs and boulder beaches. The coasts of the Falklands are surrounded by 'kelp', marine algae ranging from offshore giant kelp Macrocystitis pyrifera and tree kelp Lessonia flavicans in deep waters up to 30m. Kelp is everywhere, it washes ashore when it breaks off and Falklands boulder beaches get littered with it, somtimes forming deep 'banks'. Other beaches are covered in mussel shells. Some beaches however are white sand and in other places there is high shelved rock.

Plants, coastal strandline vegetation, and algae found on Falklands beaches: Sea cabbage Senecio candidans Common storksbill Erodium cicutarium Falklands Thrift Armeria macloviana Lesser sea-spurrey Spergularia marina       kelps Birds that might be seen on Falklands beaches: Kelp Goose Chloephaga hybrida Falklands Flightless Steamer Duck Tachyeres brachydactyla Patagonian Crested Duck Lophonetta s.specularioides Blackish Oystercatcher Haematopus ater White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis Magellanic Oystercatcher Haematopus leucopodus South American TernSterna hirundinacea Blackish Oystercatcher Haematopus ater White-tufted Grebe Rollandia rolland Snowy Sheathbill Chionis alba Kelp or Dominican Gull Larus dominicanus Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax cyanocephalus Dolphin Gull Larus scoresbii Cobb's Wren (Southern House Wren) Troglodytes aëdon cobbi Black-throated Finch- Melanodera melanodera Tussac Bird Cinclodes antarcticus antarcticus Invertebrates that might be seen on Falklands beaches: Marine Invertebrates Camel Cricket Parudenus falklandicus Algae that might be seen on Falklands beaches: Giant and Basket Kelp Macrocystis pyrifera Durvillaea Sea Lettuce Ulva sp

Photographic credits: Robert Maddocks, Sam Dodd Photographs and Images Copyright: The images on this site have been bought under licence or have been used with the permission of their owners. They may not be copied or downloaded in any form without their owner's consent.