A wildlife paradise
9th January 2025, West Point Island
The day started with an early morning survey that brought the first sighting of South American sea lions and Commerson’s dolphins on the trip. We were also graced with the continuing presence of hundreds of prions darting above the waves and an increasing number of graceful black browed albatrosses as we got closer to their breeding colony.
The main event of the day was the planned landing at West Point Island. As we headed towards shore, turkey vultures circled overhead welcoming us to the cove. After stepping off the zodiacs there was then the matter of the 5 mile round trip hike to the black-browed albatross breeding colony. This passed quickly, with rolling moorland and beautiful views of the sea all around. Two of the three of the Falkland Islands endemic species were also spotted along the way: the flightless Falklands steamer ducks and a new one for the team, the striated caracara.
At the colony we were able to have our first look at rockhopper penguins on land. This meant we had managed to see seven out of eight possible penguin species on our trip, only missing the elusive Maccaroni penguins. The chicks in the Falklands are also several months ahead of those in Antarctica (as seen the day before with the Gentoo Penguins), with crèches of large chicks dotted throughout the Albatross colony. It was thrilling to watch the rockhoppers return from the sea up the cliffs in order to feed their chicks.
The black-browed albatrosses were also at the chick provisioning stage of their breeding cycle. With a wingspan of between 210-250cm, it was both amazing and a little terrifying watching them flying just a few meters overhead as they returned to their nests.
Bill rubbing (performed between mates to reaffirm pair bonds) and chick feeding were some of the behavioural highlights witnessed whilst at the colony.
After the high of our trip to WestPoint Island we had a bittersweet ending to the day; e were told by the Captain that we would not be staying in the Falkland’s another day as planned and would instead be heading back towards Ushuaia that night. This meant the team could go back on survey. There were more prions and black-browed albatross around and a final marine mammal sighting of Commerson’s dolphins.
The cherry on the top of an almost perfect day was getting to witness the green flash at sunset. A meteorological optical phenomenon where a bright flash of green appears on the horizon just as the sun sets. Though it’s a shame to be leaving the Falklands a day early, without the sudden change of plan we would have likely never seen the green flash or the dolphins.
written by Beth
