The Jason Islands (Spanish: Islas Sebaldes) are an archipelago in the Falkland Islands, lying to the far north-west of West Falkland. Three of the islands, Steeple Jason, Grand Jason and Clarke's Islet, are private nature reserves owned by the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York City. Other islands in the group are National Nature Reserves owned by the Falkland Islands Government.
The islands include Steeple Island, Grand Island, Elephant Island, Flat Island and South Island.
The Spanish name for the archipelago is Islas Sebaldes; however, this is sometimes subdivided into "Islas los Salvajes" (western, Grand Jason, and Steeple Jason) and "Islas las Llaves" (eastern, Flat Jason, Seal Rocks and North Fur Island),. [2] No such distinction exists in English-language toponymy.
The Jason Islands are somewhat geologically distinct, described by Ian Strange as "sharply rising peaks give them a grandeur found in few other areas of the archipelago".
![Jason Islands depicted on an 18th-century map, as "S. de Waerds Isl.s" [sic] (R.W. Seale, ca. 1745, fragment) Seale-1744.png](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Seale-1744.png/350px-Seale-1744.png)
An archipelago in the region of the Falkland Islands appeared on maps from the early 16th century prompting speculation they may have been sighted by Portuguese or Spanish sailors of the period, although none of the suggestions in the modern literature stand up to scrutiny. In 1592, John Davis is believed to have sighted the Falklands after drifting under bare masts in the Falklands Current its likely that he made an initial sighting of the Jason Islands.
On 24 January 1600 Sebald De Weert, on his homeward leg back to the Netherlands after having left the Straits of Magellan, noticed some islands that did not exist on his nautical charts. He attempted to stop and replenish there, but was unable to land due to harsh conditions. The islands that Sebald de Weert charted were the present day Jason Islands. De Weert named these islands the "Sebald de Weert Eilanden" ("Sebald de Weert Islands" in English), which came to be known to the world as the Sebald Islands. Since 1766, these have been officially known as the "Jason Islands", in the Falklands and throughout the British Empire, although, the name "Sebald Islands" (or Spanish versions "Islas Sebaldinas" or "Sebaldes" for short) remained in use for many years. Today the British name, "Jason Islands", is fairly universal, named after HMS Jason.
Between 1864 and 1866, approximately two million rockhopper and gentoo penguins were killed on the Jasons and boiled to extract their oil.
In March 1970, the islands were bought by Len Hill. The Jason Islands were offered to Hill for £10,000, which included sheep that had been stocked by the previous owner. After some negotiation, he bought the islands for £5,500 without the sheep. Hill once issued some now sought-after Jason Islands banknotes in the name of the islands to raise money for conservation there. The notes were valid until the 31 December 1979 and were signed by "Len Hill – Administrator". [3] [4]
In the 1990s, two of the Jason Islands, Steeple Jason Island and Grand Jason Island, were bought by New York philanthropist Michael Steinhardt, who later donated them to the Bronx Zoo based Wildlife Conservation Society along with US$425,000 to build a conservation station named after himself and his wife Judy.
In modern times none of the Jason Islands has been permanently inhabited, but temporary or seasonal inhabitants have lived on them.
In the 1920s a police house was provided, and a resident constable of the Falkland Islands Police maintained a security presence on the islands, chiefly to prevent foreign seal poaching. [5]
Through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, until the 1980s, several of the islands were also used for grazing sheep, and some cattle. [6] : 214 [7] Some buildings remain on the islands from that era, including cottages and sheep shearing sheds.
Some scientific research personnel live temporarily on the islands. In particular, Steinhart Station, constructed in 2003, is an important field research station on Steeple Jason for monitoring wildlife.
The Jason Islands are home to the striated caracara, albatrosses, Antarctic skuas and fur seals.
The Jason Islands group has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA). Birds for which the site is of conservation significance include Falkland steamer ducks, ruddy-headed geese (10 breeding pairs), gentoo penguins (12,000 pairs) southern rockhopper penguins (140,000 pairs), macaroni penguins (10 pairs), Magellanic penguins, black-browed albatrosses (210,000 pairs), southern giant petrels (1500 pairs), striated caracaras (250 pairs), blackish cinclodes, Cobb's wrens and white-bridled finches. [1]
"Steeple and Grand Jason were stocked with cattle and up to 5,000 sheep from the late 19th century to about 1968." Overgrazing has left parts of these two islands badly eroded. Elephant Jason was stocked from 1967 to 1971. Since then, the sheep have been removed and the islands have been managed as nature reserves. Fire has been a problem on South Jason. Apart from an infestation of mice on Steeple Jason, the islands in the group are free of introduced predators. [1]
They are now run as a nature reserve.
Lively Island is the largest of the Lively Island Group of the Falkland Islands, The island group lies east of East Falkland. Lively Island is the largest rat-free island in the Falklands, hence its importance to birdlife. The island also has a sheep farm.
Bleaker Island is one of the Falkland Islands, lying off south east Lafonia. The name is a corruption of "Breaker Island" due to the waves that break on it. It was also known as "Long Island" at one point.
Carcass Island is the largest of the West Point Island Group of the Falkland Islands.
Keppel Island is one of the Falkland Islands, lying between Saunders and Pebble islands, and near Golding Island to the north of West Falkland on Keppel Sound. It has an area of 3,626 hectares and its highest point, Mt. Keppel, is 341 metres (1,119 ft) high. There is a wide, flat valley in the centre of the island with several freshwater lakes. The central valley rises steeply to the south-west, west and north. The north-east is low-lying, with a deeply indented coastline.
Pebble Island is one of the Falkland Islands, situated north of West Falkland. It is possibly named after the peculiarly spherical pebbles found at its western tip.
Sea Lion Island is the largest of the Sea Lion Island Group of the Falkland Islands. It is 9 km2 (3 sq mi) in area. and lies 14 km (9 mi) southeast of Lafonia. It was designated a Ramsar site on 24 September 2001, and as an Important Bird Area. In 2017 the island was designated as a National Nature Reserve.
New Island is one of the Falkland Islands, lying north of Beaver Island. It is 238 km (148 mi) from Stanley and is 13 km (8.1 mi) long with an average width of 750 m (820 yd). The highest point is 226 metres (741 ft). The northern and eastern coasts have high cliffs but the eastern coasts are lower lying, with rocky shores and sandy bays. There are several smaller offshore islands in the group; North Island and Saddle Island have high cliffs but Ship Island and Cliff Knob Island are lower lying.
West Point Island is one of the Falkland Islands, lying in the north-west corner of the archipelago. It has an area of 1,469 hectares (5.67 sq mi) and boasts some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the Falklands. The island is owned by Roddy & Lily Napier and run as a sheep farm and tourist attraction.
Beauchene Island is the southernmost of the Falkland Islands, lying about 54 kilometres (34 mi) south of Porpoise Point in Lafonia. It was discovered in 1701 by Jacques Gouin de Beauchêne, after whom it was named.
Islas Ildefonso are a group of islands in Chile. The islands belong to the Commune of Cabo de Hornos in Antártica Chilena Province of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. They lie 96 km (60 mi) west of Isla Hermite, part of Tierra del Fuego, and 93 km (58 mi) NNW of Diego Ramirez Islands, but only 27 km (17 mi) south of Isla Hoste or 23 km (14 mi) to rocks near Isla Hoste.
Steeple Jason Island is a small island west of Grand Jason Island. It is a part of the Jason Islands in the Falkland Islands. Along with Grand Jason, it is one of the "Islas los Salvajes" in Spanish.
The Passage Islands are a group of four islands in the Falkland Islands of the South Atlantic Ocean. They lie off Dunnose Head, West Falkland, at the mouth of King George Bay.
Kidney Island so called due to its shape, is a small island with a land area of 33 hectares, to the east of East Falkland, not far from Stanley. It lies is at the east end of Berkeley Sound near Kidney Cove, and is separated from Port William by Menguera Point. It is a nature reserve and, unlike most of the main islands, is still covered in tussac grass. Its wildlife includes penguins and sea lions. It is one of only three places in the archipelago where king penguins breed; the others are Saunders Island and Volunteer Point on East Falkland.
Bird Island is one of the Falkland Islands. It lies due south of West Falkland, near Port Stephens and Calm Head. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.
Hummock Island is the largest of a group of islands in King George Bay in the Falkland Islands. It has a land area of 3.03 square kilometres (1.17 sq mi) and is about 4.0 miles (6.4 km) long in a north-west to south-east direction. Hummock Island is off the western coast of West Falkland, in a bay that leads to the estuary of the Chartres River. The highest point on the island is in the north-east and is 190 metres (620 ft). There are cliffs which often reach over 60 metres (200 ft) high.
Birdland Park and Gardens, often called Birdland, is a wildlife park in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, England. First opened in 1957, the park moved to its current site in 1989. Birdland began in the 5-acre (2.0 ha) grounds of a Tudor manor house called Chardwar and was started by Len Hill, who was often referred to as the Penguin Millionaire.
The wildlife of the Falkland Islands is quite similar to that of Patagonia. The Falkland Islands have no native reptiles or amphibians, and the only native land mammal, the warrah, is now extinct. However, a large number of bird species have been seen around the islands, and many of them breed on the smaller islands of the archipelago. Insects play a large role in the ecosystem of the islands, and over 200 species have been recorded. The waters around the Falkland Islands sustain many animals, including a large number of marine mammals. Three pinniped species breed on the islands.
Hope Harbour is an inlet at the north-west of West Falkland in the Falkland Islands of the South Atlantic Ocean. About 4 km long and 1.3 km wide, it is sheltered by the promontory of Grave Cove Camp in the south, a narrow ridge terminating in Hope Point to the north, Bramble Point Camp to the east, and West Point Island at its entrance to the west. Carcass Island lies 8 km north-east of Hope Point.
Seal Bay is a bay, about 1 km across, on the rugged and exposed north coast of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands of the South Atlantic Ocean. It lies some 40 km north-west of Stanley.