New Island

New Island lies at the western edge of the Falklands and is run as a nature reserve, with cliffs on its western side holding a large mixed colony of black-browed albatross, rockhopper penguins and imperial shags nesting on the same slope. Thin-billed prions breed in burrows across the island in huge numbers. The remains of a nineteenth-century whaling and sealing station stand at the settlement.

Background

New Island lies 238 kilometres from Stanley, north of Beaver Island. It is 13 kilometres long, 750 metres wide on average and rises to 226 metres. Smaller islands lie off it, among them North Island, Saddle Island, Ship Island and Cliff Knob Island. American whalers may have come as early as the 1770s, and Coffin's Harbour recalls the Coffin family of Nantucket. The Barnard Building, the oldest building still standing in the Falklands, was restored in 2006 and is now a museum. Guano was mined here in the 1850s and 60s, and a shore whaling station worked from 1908 until 1915. Ian Strange made the island a nature reserve in 1972.

Source: Wikipedia, "New Island"

What you'll find

• The mixed cliff colony - albatross, rockhoppers and shags nesting on one slope.
• The prion burrows - thin-billed prions breeding across the island in vast numbers.
• The whaling remains - the nineteenth-century station at the settlement.
• The western cliffs - the steep coast the colonies occupy.

When to go

October to March is the breeding season. Prions return to burrows at night through the summer. Winter access is minimal.

Before you go

Access is controlled as a reserve and must be arranged; independent visits are not straightforward. Most arrivals are by cruise ship and those days are crowded. Accommodation is very limited.

Nearby

Weddell is southeast, and West Point is northeast.

Key facts