Jason Islands
Encyclopedia
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
in the Falkland Islands
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...
, lying to the far 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...
. Three of the islands, Steeple Jason, Grand Jason and Clarke's Islet are private nature reserves owned by the Wildlife Conservation Society, New York. Other islands in the group are National Nature Reserves owned by the Falkland Islands Government.
Geography
The islands include Steeple IslandSteeple Jason Island
Steeple Jason Island is a small island located at , 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 .-Population and geography:None of the Jason Islands has ever been properly inhabited...
, Grand Island, Elephant Island, Flat Island and South Island.
| Island | Area (ha) | Area (acres) | Area (sq mi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steeple Jason | 790 | 2,000 | 3.1 |
| Grand Island | 1,380 | 3,400 | 5.3 |
| Steeple Islet | 22 | 54 | 0.085 |
| Flat Jason | 375 | 930 | 1.45 |
| Elephant Jason | 260 | 640 | 1 |
| South Fur | 25 | 62 | 0.097 |
| North Fur | 75 | 190 | 0.29 |
| Clarke's Islet | 5 | 12 | 0.019 |
| Total | 3,368 | 8,320 | 13 |
- Steeple Jason Island is runs south-east to north-west. A narrow neck of land breaks the island into two sections, both with steep slopes on both sides. The northern point has a wide low plateau which is an important area for breeding seabirds .
- Grand Island, the largest of the group, has a varied terrain with steep cliffs and high plateaux with gullies. There are tussac-covered west and south facing slopes, but severely eroded areas, especially at the northern, south-eastern and western ends. Above 60–90 metres (197–295 ft), tussac is sparse and there are low grasses and small cushion plants
- Steeple Islet is generally low-lying and slopes towards a rocky north-western point. It is almost completely covered in dense tussac grass.
- Flat Jason Island is low-lying.
- Elephant Jason Island has a long ridge with a maximum height of 208 metres (682.4 ft). On the western coast thee are sheer cliffs; on the northern and eastern coasts the land slopes into low-lying plateaux covered with dense tussac. The tussac extends round most of the island except at the most northerly point, where there are areas of grass and heath. Early in the 20th century it was used as a base for government sealing inspectors.
- South Jason Island has a central ridge with a high point about 300 metres (984.3 ft).
- South Fur Island, about 3 miles (4.8 km) off the south coast of South Jason Island, is notable for its dolerite boulders.
- North Fur lies east of Flat Jason. It has steep cliffs and has never been stocked probably because access is difficult.
- Clarke's Islet is about 0.3 mile (0.482802 km) off the north-eastern coast of Grand Jason Island. The Fridays are two small, low-lying islands about 3 miles (4.8 km) off the north-west coast of Flat Jason.
The Spanish name for the archipelago is Islas Sebaldes, however, this is sometimes subdivided into "Islas los Salvajes" (western, Grand Jason, and Steeple Jason) and "Islas las Llaves" (eastern, Flat Jason, Seal Rocks and North Fur Island),. No such distinction exists in English-language toponymy.
The Jason Islands are somewhat geologically distinct. Ian Strange says,
sharply rising peaks give them a grandeur found in few other areas of the archipelago.
History
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
in the region of the Falkland Islands appeared on map
Map
A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....
s from the early 16th century, suggesting they may have been sighted by Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
's or another expedition of the 16th century. Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer. The Americas are generally believed to have derived their name from the feminized Latin version of his first name.-Expeditions:...
is believed to have sighted the islands in 1502, but did not name them. Both explorers were in Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
service. In 1519 or 1520, Esteban Gómez
Esteban Gómez
Esteban Gómez, also known as Estevan Gómez, and born Estêvão Gomes, , was a Portuguese cartographer and explorer. He sailed at the service of Spain in the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan, but deserted the expedition before reaching the Strait of Magellan, and returned to Spain in May 1521...
of the "San Antonio", one of the captains in the expedition of Magellan, deserted this enterprise and encountered several islands, which members of his crew called "Islas de Sansón y de los Patos" ("Islands of Samson and the Ducks"). Although these islands were probably the Jason Islands, the names "Islas de Sansón" (or "San Antón," "San Son," and "Ascensión") were used for the Falklands as a whole on Spanish maps during this period.
It was on his homeward leg back to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
after having left the Straits of Magellan that Sebald De Weert
Sebald de Weert
Sebald or Sebalt de Weert was a Dutch captain and vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company...
noticed some unnamed and uncharted islands, or at least islands that did not exist on his nautical charts. There he attempted to stop and replenish but was unable to land due to harsh conditions. The islands Sebald de Weert charted were the present day Jason Islands. De Weert then named these islands the "Sebald de Weert Eilanden" ("Sebald de Weert Islands" in English) which became to be known to the world as the Sebald Islands. Since 1766, these have been officially known as the "Jason Islands", in the Falklands and throughout the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Even so, some used the name "Sebald Islands" (or Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
versions "Islas Sebaldinas" or "Sebaldes" for short) for many years to come. Today the British name, "Jason Islands", is fairly universal.
Between 1864 and 1866, approximately two million rockhopper and gentoo penguins were killed on the Jasons and boiled to extract their oil. None of the islands has ever been inhabited, but until the 1980s they were used for grazing sheep - one or two buildings remain.
In March 1970, the islands were bought by Len Hill. Hill famously once issued some now sought-after banknote
Banknote
A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...
s in their name to raise money for conservation there. The notes indicate a validity until the 31 December 1979 and are signed by "Len Hill - Administrator". By a stroke of fate, the Jason Islands were offered to Hill for £10,000, which included sheep that had been stocked by the previous owner. After some negotiation, he bought the islands for £5,500 without the sheep.
Two of the Jason Islands, Steeple Jason Island and Grand Jason Island, were bought by New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
philanthropist Michael Steinhardt
Michael Steinhardt
Michael H. Steinhardt is an American investor and philanthropist active in Jewish causes. He was one of the first prominent hedge fund managers, and is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He founded Steinhardt, Fine, Berkowitz & Co., a hedge fund, in 1967...
in the 1990s, who later donated them to the Bronx Zoo
Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
based Wildlife Conservation Society
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society based at the Bronx Zoo was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society and currently manages some of wild places around the world, with over 500 field conservation projects in 60 countries, and 200 scientists on staff...
. He also gave them US$ 425,000 to build a conservation station named after himself and his wife Judy.
Wildlife
The Jason Islands are the main stronghold of the striated caracaraStriated Caracara
The Striated Caracara, is a bird of prey of the Falconidae family. In the Falkland Islands it is known as the Johnny Rook.-Description:...
, while other wildlife includes albatross
Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...
es, Antarctic skuas and fur seal
Fur seal
Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds in the Otariidae family. One species, the northern fur seal inhabits the North Pacific, while seven species in the Arctocephalus genus are found primarily in the Southern hemisphere...
s.
Conservation issues
"Steeple and Grand Jason were stocked with cattle and up to 5,000 sheep from the late 19th century to about 1968." Overgrazing has left parts of these two islands badly eroded. Elephant Jason was stocked from 1967 to 1971. Since then, the sheep have been removed and the islands have been managed as nature reserves. Fire has been a problem on South Jason. Apart from an infestation of mice on Steeple Jason, the islands in the group are free of introduced predators.They are now run as a nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
.