Steeple Jason Island

Infobox Falkland island




MapCaption=
latitude= -51.033
longitude= -61.183
coordinates= coord|51.0333333|S|61.1833333|W
island group=Jason Islands
english name=Steeple Jason
spanish name=
meaning of name=English: Refers to pointed profile of island
area=
area rank=
highest elevation=
Population=
population rank=
main settlement=
references=

Steeple Jason Island is a small island located at coord|51.0333333|S|61.1833333|W, west of the 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 Jasons being divided into two groups in that language).

Population and geography

None of the Jason Islands has ever been properly inhabited. Steeple Jason was used for sheep grazing up until the 1980s. There are the remains of a disused shearing shed on the island. There is also the Steinhart Station, a field research station on the island, built in 2003 for monitoring wildlife.

The island is surrounded by a little low lying land around the shore, which quickly rises into a steep peak, hence the island's name.

The island was formerly owned by New York philanthropist Michael Steinhardt, who later donated them to the Bronx Zoo based Wildlife Conservation Society. [http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/deadline/2002/torres-penguins.asp]

Wildlife

Steeple Jason is a home to the largest colony of Black-browed Albatrosses in the world. Over 70% of the global population of Black-browed Albatross breed in the Falkland Islands [http://www.falklandsconservation.com/seabird_declines.html] .

Other birdlife includes rockhopper penguins, magellanic penguins, gentoo penguins, slender-billed prions, caracaras and tussac-birds. The sole mammalian life is marine, e.g. sea lions, and fur seals.

Large beds of kelp surround the island, and the land is covered in grasses common to the other Falkland Islands, such as tussac grass.

References

* "The Blue Planet", BBC, 2001.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1858356.stm BBC: "Safe Haven for albatrosses" (6 March 2002)]
* [http://www.falklandsconservation.com/seabird_declines.html "Severe Declines in Seabird Populations on Steeple Jason Island" (November 2003)]

External links

* [http://www.ladatco.com/SNIP-jsn.htm Steeple Jason Island, Falkland Islands]
* [http://www.wcs.org/international/latinamerica/southerncone/jasons?preview=1&psid=&ph= WCS in the Falkland Islands]