Steeple Jason, Falkland Islands
It is hard for us to appreciate just how special some of the places are that we visit. But on this trip, we have called at some of the most remote and inaccessible islands in the region, and this is one of the most remote and inaccessible corners of the planet, Antarctica. It has taken us deep into the Weddell Sea, past gale-lashed outlands like Elephant Island, round the seabird citadels of South Georgia, and in the last 3 days, the Falklands. We had a brief inoculation against the modern world at the teeming metropolis of Stanley, then launched out into remote orbit once again at Carcass and New Islands, tiny, far-flung islands in the western archipelago. But today we boldly went where few have boldy gone before, and more incredible, we boldly landed on an island which few Falklanders have even visited. It was a first for many of our naturalists: Steeple Jason Island in the far northwest. We were blessed by blue skies and a steady breeze. We navigated in through Kelp tangles to land by Zodiac on a tiny beach where absurdly tame Tussac Birds foraged in the blackened entrails of stranded seaweed. Huge logs from Tierra del Fuego had been casually flung 30 yards above the beach by some past gale. We trekked past eroded stumps of Tussac grass possibly hundreds of years old, over an ancient sheep fence, long toppled, and out over a stony plain where moulting penguins waited stoically for their new apparel. A peregrine soared high above us, glaring down at an alien species. Then up past gold-encrusted rocks festooned with lichens as long as tagliatelli, round the flank of a conical hill. A mile on, we finally fought our way down through a thicket of tussac. As we burst out of the last clumps, we were suddenly in the suburbs of an Albatross City. The fluffy grey chicks, each on his own fibrous throne, gazed imperiously at us, clacking bills if we came too close. I counted: 50, 100, 500, 1000, maybe 5000 nests just in this one small city. Steeple Jason has the largest Black-browed Albatross colony in the world, possibly 150, 000 pairs. The city runway is built in the middle, with adults landing and taking off every 3 minutes: a hectic, heaving Heathrow. An unforgettable sight, sound and smell: a prehistoric seabird metropolis at rush hour. Those with the stamina climbed to the rugged sandstone ridge 1000' above the beach, for one of the finest views in the South Atlantic. What a spectacular end to a spectacular trip: Steeple Jason, the outermost island in the farthest northwestern spiral arm of the Falklands galaxy.
It is hard for us to appreciate just how special some of the places are that we visit. But on this trip, we have called at some of the most remote and inaccessible islands in the region, and this is one of the most remote and inaccessible corners of the planet, Antarctica. It has taken us deep into the Weddell Sea, past gale-lashed outlands like Elephant Island, round the seabird citadels of South Georgia, and in the last 3 days, the Falklands. We had a brief inoculation against the modern world at the teeming metropolis of Stanley, then launched out into remote orbit once again at Carcass and New Islands, tiny, far-flung islands in the western archipelago. But today we boldly went where few have boldy gone before, and more incredible, we boldly landed on an island which few Falklanders have even visited. It was a first for many of our naturalists: Steeple Jason Island in the far northwest. We were blessed by blue skies and a steady breeze. We navigated in through Kelp tangles to land by Zodiac on a tiny beach where absurdly tame Tussac Birds foraged in the blackened entrails of stranded seaweed. Huge logs from Tierra del Fuego had been casually flung 30 yards above the beach by some past gale. We trekked past eroded stumps of Tussac grass possibly hundreds of years old, over an ancient sheep fence, long toppled, and out over a stony plain where moulting penguins waited stoically for their new apparel. A peregrine soared high above us, glaring down at an alien species. Then up past gold-encrusted rocks festooned with lichens as long as tagliatelli, round the flank of a conical hill. A mile on, we finally fought our way down through a thicket of tussac. As we burst out of the last clumps, we were suddenly in the suburbs of an Albatross City. The fluffy grey chicks, each on his own fibrous throne, gazed imperiously at us, clacking bills if we came too close. I counted: 50, 100, 500, 1000, maybe 5000 nests just in this one small city. Steeple Jason has the largest Black-browed Albatross colony in the world, possibly 150, 000 pairs. The city runway is built in the middle, with adults landing and taking off every 3 minutes: a hectic, heaving Heathrow. An unforgettable sight, sound and smell: a prehistoric seabird metropolis at rush hour. Those with the stamina climbed to the rugged sandstone ridge 1000' above the beach, for one of the finest views in the South Atlantic. What a spectacular end to a spectacular trip: Steeple Jason, the outermost island in the farthest northwestern spiral arm of the Falklands galaxy.
