Carcass Island
Encyclopedia
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
. It lies north west of West Falkland
West Falkland
West Falkland is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by Falkland Sound. Its area is and its coastline is long. Including the adjacent small islands the land area is .-Population:The island has fewer than 200...
and south east of the Jason Islands
Jason Islands
The Jason Islands 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, New York...
. It is 6 miles (10 km) in length, has a maximum width of 1.6 miles (2.5 km) and is 1894 hectares (7.3 sq mi) square miles (1,894 ha) in area.
History
The island's grim sounding name comes from the ship HMS CarcassHMS Carcass (1759)
HMS Carcass was an of the Royal Navy, later refitted as a survey vessel. A young Horatio Nelson served aboard her as a midshipman on an expedition to the Arctic.-Design and construction:The Infernal class were designed by Thomas Slade...
, which surveyed the island in 1766. Its accompanying vessel, HMS Jason
HMS Jason (1763)
HMS Jason was a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1763 and served throughout the American Revolutionary War.- References :...
, gave its name to the nearby Jason Islands
Jason Islands
The Jason Islands 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, New York...
, and its captain, John McBride
John MacBride (Royal Navy officer)
John MacBride was an officer of the Royal Navy and a politician who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral of the Blue.MacBride entered the navy after serving on merchant vessels and...
, gave his name to MacBride Head
MacBride Head
MacBride Head is the most northeasterly point of the Falkland Islands, and is on East Falkland. Mount MacBride is just to its south. There is a sea lion colony here.It takes its name from Capt...
.
It has been run as a sheep farm for over a century and is presently owned by R. P. McGill. Its small settlement, lying on Port Patterson
Port Patterson
Port Patterson is a settlement on Carcass Island in the western Falkland Islands. It takes its name from the bay it is on, on the south west coast of the island. It was founded in the late 19th century....
on the south west coast, is also known for its garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
s, and has a small shop/grocery.
Carcass Island was considered as one of the potential sites for a British amphibious landing during the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
; however, the British landings took place on San Carlos Water
San Carlos Water
Not to be confused with the San Carlos River.San Carlos Water is a bay/fjord on the west coast of East Falkland, facing onto the Falkland Sound.-Name:...
in the west of East Falkland
East Falkland
East Falkland the largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, has an area of and a coastline long. Most of the population of the Falklands live in East Falkland, almost all of them living in the northern half of the island...
, on Falkland Sound
Falkland Sound
The Falkland Sound is a sea strait in the Falkland Islands. Running south west - north east, it separates West and East Falkland.-Name:The sound was named by John Strong in 1690 for Viscount Falkland, the name only later being applied to the archipelago and its two largest islands...
. The plan would have been for a "stone aircraft carrier". The main objections to this plan were, a) Carcass Island, being in the west of the archipelago was nearest to continental Argentine bases, b) its proximity to the airbase on Pebble Island
Pebble Island
Pebble Island is one of the Falkland Islands, lying north of West Falkland.The island stretches about 19 miles from east to west and is about 4.3 miles at its widest point, with a total area of square miles .It has three high points: First Mountain , Middle Mountain and...
, and c) its remoteness from Stanley
Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley is the capital and only true cityin the Falkland Islands. It is located on the isle of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2006 census, the city had a population of 2,115...
, as it was furthest from the main objectives, and West Falkland
West Falkland
West Falkland is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by Falkland Sound. Its area is and its coastline is long. Including the adjacent small islands the land area is .-Population:The island has fewer than 200...
was ultimately bypassed in the war.
There are three listed buildings here, the boathouse, shed, and store.
Geography
The highest points of the island are Stanley Hill and Mount Byng 220 metres (721.8 ft). The north-eastern coast has cliffs and slopes while there are large sand bays and a tidal rocky point to the north-west. The several substantial freshwater ponds are important waterfowl sites. Though the island has been a sheep farm for more than a century, excellent management has preserved its varied habitat and mature tussac grows in replanted coastal paddocks. There are also stretches of duneland. Leopard Beach is often used as a landing point.Wildlife and gardens
The island has no ratRat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s or cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s, and as a result has a wide variety of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
life including Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
The Black-crowned Night Heron commonly abbreviated to just Night Heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, except in the coldest regions and Australasia .-Description:Adults are...
s, known in the Falkland Islands as "quarks", as well as seals and penguin
Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
s. Tussock grass also grows here.
The island contains one of the few substantial stands of trees in the Falklands. There is however, a true wood at Hill Cove
Hill Cove
Hill Cove is the third largest settlement on West Falkland, in the Falkland Islands, in the north west. It is on the north coast, on the shore of Byron Sound, and overlooks Port Egmont on Saunders Island, the first British settlement in the islands...
. None of the species are endemic, but they include such exoticisms as Monterey cypress trees, and New Zealand cabbage palms. The night herons nest within these trees. The gardens also include other introduced plants such as fuchsia
Fuchsia
Fuchsia is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first, Fuchsia triphylla, was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola in 1703 by the French Minim monk and botanist, Charles Plumier...
s, lupin
Lupin
Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins or lupines , is a genus in the legume family . The genus comprises about 280 species , with major centers of diversity in South and western North America , and the Andes and secondary centers in the Mediterranean region and Africa Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins...
s, and dog rose
Dog Rose
Rosa canina is a variable scrambling rose species native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia....
s.
External links
- Carcass Island
- http://www.ladatco.com/fk-crs.htm
- Wildlife shots of Carcass island
- Carcass Island of the Falkland Islands