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The Falkland Islands, located in the Argentine sea, have an inhospitable and unstable climate that makes it difficult for a great variety of life to exist. The few organisms adapted to these conditions tend to have a direct relationship with marine life or near the coast, being animals and plants very characteristic of the place.
If you want to know the flora and fauna of the Falkland IslandsAs well as finding out some tips on how to do sustainable tourism in the place, be sure to read this Green Ecologist article. We tell you everything!
Where are the Falkland Islands - situation
The Falkland Islands are in the south atlantic ocean about 500 km away from Argentina (parallel nº52 and meridians nº58 and 60). The archipelago is made up of two large islands, Loneliness and Greater Maldive, and more than 200 islets or small islands.
The total area of the archipelago is around 15,800 km2. It is estimated that around 3,000 people live on these islands, of which the majority live in the capital of the archipelago, Port Argentino or Port Stanley, on Soledad Island, located on the eastern coast. The climate in these islands stands out for being very cold, windy and unstable, with rains most of the year. The temperature is between 5ºC and 18ºC.
These islands are declared as non-autonomous territory by the United Nations, since the United Kingdom is listed as its administering power until today, but its sovereignty remains under the claim of Argentina, who requires its return from the invasion and occupation of the English in 1982.
Fauna of the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands fauna It is not of enormous variety, since it is mainly concentrated in the coastal areas. There, cetaceans such as whales, dolphins and killer whales, and pinnipeds such as seals, lions, elephants and sea lions make the coastal areas of the archipelago their home.
There is also a great abundance of mollusks, krill, jellyfish, crustaceans and fish fauna, such as oysters and clams; as well as a great variety of fish, such as the pompano, the polacra, the hoki, the pollock, the ray fish or the southern brótola.
Regarding the birds, penguins stand out from the flightless ones, of up to four different species, such as the yellow plumed penguin. As for flying birds, there is a great variety: gulls, bustards, cormorants, caranchos, pigeons, petrels, ducks and geese.
Terrestrial mammals do not stand out on these islands. The only subspecies of canids recognized as autochthonous to the region, such as the Malvinas fox or guará, became extinct during the second half of the 19th century after being considered a pest for livestock at that time.
These are some of the Falkland Islands animals most representative:
Black Carancho (Phalcoboenus australis)
The black carancho lives only in the southern tip of South America. It is a bird of around 60 centimeters and a weight of just over 1 kilo. As for their colors, they are practically brown all over the body, except for the chest, belly and throat, where they show off whitish lines.
Aggressive and voracious, it is a scavenger bird that stalks penguin colonies. However, in addition to looking for carrion, it is also common to see him attacking young sheep or those that show some disability, as well as penguin chicks.
Rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome)
Although the Rockhopper penguin is basically black and white, it sports yellow eyebrow feathers above its red eyes, which gives it that very special appearance. Its weight ranges from 3 kilos and 55 centimeters in length, making it the smallest of the crested penguins.
With a social behavior, this species lives in pairs and feeds on krill, fish, mollusks, plankton and crustaceans. However, its population is classified as vulnerable due to the decrease of up to 24% in the number of specimens in the last 30 years.
Finally, it should be noted that the Falkland Islands are not only home to this species of penguins, but other species such as the gentoo penguin, royal penguin and Magellan penguin also coexist here, creating huge colonies of up to more than 10,000 individuals.
Págalo pardo or skúa grande (Stercorarius skua)
The brown skua or large skúa stands out, first of all, for its enormous size, about 1.5 kg in weight, 1.5 meters of wingspan and almost 60 cm in length. As for its colors, it is basically dark brown with a gray hooked bill.
It is also characterized by its aggressiveness and opportunism. The Brown Pag is a large, slow-flying predator that feeds on fish and specimens of other species of young seabirds. Also, take the opportunity whenever possible to steal prey from other birds.
Almost all his life is spent on the high seas, taking advantage of the settlement on land only in the breeding season. A curious fact is that at this time we can hear them emit a sound similar to a barking, during the rest of the times it is very silent.
Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis)
The southern right whale, common in the southern hemisphere, specifically in the Atlantic, South Pacific and South Indian Oceans, is a huge cetacean approximately 15 meters long and 40 tons in weight that basically feeds on krill.
A particular physical trait of the species focuses on the presence of calluses on its head. In addition, as a curious fact, male southern right whales have the largest sex organs compared to the entire animal kingdom, being able to weigh 525 kilos each.
Unfortunately, like many other species of cetaceans, this bearded whale is in danger of extinction as a cause of indiscriminate hunting and its vulnerability: slow swim and large size.
However, this whale is not the only one that we can find in the waters that surround these islands, but other species also coexist such as the blue whale, the humpback whale, the loggerhead or northern rorqual whale, and even the killer whales.
Then you can see images of the animals of the Falkland Islands in order of mention. Also, in the cover image you can see the rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome).
Flora of the Falkland Islands
As with fauna, vegetation of the Falkland Islands it is not particularly varied. This is mainly due to the climatic difficulties that plague the region. Either way, the plants of the Falkland Islands are very peculiar and characteristic of the steppes. Hard and low grasses predominate, shrubs (in some cases they reach 2 meters), lichens and mosses, which form large peat bogs, but there is a great decline in trees.
Here are some examples of the vegetation of the Falkland Islands:
Tussock grass
Tussock grass is a species of grass that can grow up to two meters long. They vary between wet and dry tussocks according to the type of humidity and soil that occurs on the island. While the humid ones consist of little space between the plants and are dense, the dry ones have steppe formations and great space between the plants. It is used as a feed for livestock, which is why it is enormously abundant in the archipelago. Many pinnipeds and penguins also use these grasses for shelter.
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton is the basis of the maritime flora of the Falklands, and is made up of bacteria, algae and protists. Learn more about What is Phytoplankton and What is Plankton and its importance in these other Green Ecologist articles.
Veronica
Verónica is a beautiful shrub-like plant that stands out for its pleasantly scented purple and lilac flowers, as well as its leaves in different shades of green. In fact, Veronica It is a whole genus of shrubby plants, so some have a more rounded shape and others more spiky, as well as a somewhat different leaf shape.
Balsam of the swamps
The balsam of the swamps or also called varnish plant is another of the typical flora specimens of the Falkland Islands. We can compare this plant with large round cushions to get an idea of its shape.
As when explaining the animals of the Falkland Islands, below we show you images of the flora of the Falkland Islands in the order mentioned.
Image: Contact Silvestre
How to do sustainable tourism in the Falkland Islands
Most tourists arrive on these islands between the months of October and March, but not all of them know respect natural ecosystems and living beings of the archipelago at the same time that they contemplate them. This causes serious damage to the fauna and flora of the place, such as pollution, loss of habitat and alteration of cycles and customs in some species.
Therefore, to continue maintaining the islands as a tourist enclave focused on the incredible nature of the place, it is essential to look for sustainable ways to respect and conservation of fauna and flora of the area.
We also want to offer some tips so that you can carry them out on your possible visit to the Falkland Islands or anywhere else. So if you choose to do sustainable tourism in the Falkland Islands These notes will interest you:
- Respect animals: Avoid participating in tourist claims or activities that do not respect the captive life of these animals.
- Don't take anything with you: collaborate in the conservation of the fauna and flora of the place without taking anything that could damage them.
- Leave nothing: avoid leaving your waste and those of your companions in the place. Use the bins or, failing that, store the garbage with you until you can dispose of it in the appropriate container. You can also collaborate with the cleaning of the area by collecting the garbage that is thrown wherever you go.
- It favors the economy and local gastronomy: try to buy souvenirs or consume sustainable food that favors the local economy.
- Bet on public transport: choose public transport whenever possible to reduce our carbon footprint.
- Don't waste resources: For example, turn off the air conditioner when you are not using it or any other electronic device to save energy. Do the same with water and other resources.
- Make sure your hotel is efficient: spend some time researching whether the place where you will be staying is energy efficient. There are classifications that can help you, such as Green Globe or Energy Star.
In this other Green Ecologist article we show you more tips on How to do sustainable tourism.
If you want to read more articles similar to Flora and fauna of the Falkland Islands, we recommend that you enter our Ecosystems category.
