Saunders Island

Saunders is a working sheep farm off the north coast of West Falkland and one of the best wildlife islands in the group, with gentoo, magellanic, rockhopper and king penguins all breeding on it along with a large black-browed albatross colony on the cliffs at the Neck. The Neck is a narrow isthmus of sand with sea on both sides where several species nest within a few hundred metres of each other.

History

In January 1765 the British captain John Byron explored Saunders Island, unaware of the French at Port Louis, and named its harbour Port Egmont, where the first British settlement in the islands was built in 1766. In 1770 five Spanish frigates entered the harbour and the small British garrison had to surrender, but in 1771 Spain agreed to give Port Egmont back, and in 1776 the British abandoned it for economic reasons. The fourth largest of the Falklands, 131.6 km² of three peninsulas joined by narrow necks and rising to 457 m at Mount Richards, the island is now a sheep farm run by the Pole-Evans family, with its settlement and airstrip on the east coast and one listed building, the Stone House (Wikipedia, Saunders Island, Falkland Islands).

What's there

• The Neck - a sand isthmus where four species nest close together.
• The albatross colony - black-browed albatross on the cliffs above the rockhoppers.
• The four penguin species - gentoo, magellanic, rockhopper and king all breeding.
• The working farm - a sheep station that also takes visitors.

When to go

October to March is the breeding season and the only real window. King penguins are present year round but others leave. Winter has almost no wildlife and no flights to speak of.

Good to know

Accommodation is a self-catering settlement house or a very basic hut at the Neck, and supplies must be flown in. FIGAS flights are weather-dependent and rescheduled constantly. The wind is relentless.

Nearby

Carcass Island is west, and West Point is southwest.

Key facts