Volunteer Point is a headland on the east coast 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...

, 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...

, to the north north east (as the crow flies) of 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...

, and east of Johnson's Harbour

Johnson's Harbour

Johnson's Harbour is a settlement on the north east coast of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It is on the shore of Berkeley Sound at the head of Chabot Creek on a bay also named Johnson's Harbour. It has a small store but the FIGAS only lands there for emergencies...

 and Berkeley Sound

Berkeley Sound

Berkeley Sound is an inlet, or fjord in the north east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. The inlet was the site of the first attempts at colonisation of the islands, at Port Louis, by the French....

.

It is at the end of a narrow peninsula, which protects Volunteer Lagoon. At its landward end is Volunteer Shanty, a well maintained outhouse, which was used by trekkers until a few years ago.

Strategic value in Falklands War

Volunteer Point is one of the easternmost points of the islands, but Cape Pembroke

Cape Pembroke

Cape Pembroke is the easternmost point of the Falkland Islands, and is on East Falkland. There is an automated lighthouse here.-Lighthouse:An automated lighthouse on Cape Pembroke was built in 1855, and rebuilt in 1906, and was restored in the 1990s...

 is the furthest east. 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...

, Argentine commanders considered it a potential British landing point, because it was a) far from continental Argentine airbases (e.g. Rio Grande, Comodoro Rivadavia

Comodoro Rivadavia

Comodoro Rivadavia is a city in the Patagonian province of Chubut in southern Argentina, located on the San Jorge Gulf, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, at the foot of the Chenque Hill. Comodoro Rivadavia is the most important city of the San Jorge Basin....

), and those at 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...

, but b) also a strategic foothold for any British force wishing to retake 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...

 . However, in the event, 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, 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...

.

Wildlife

Volunteer Point is notable for having about 150 pairs of king penguin

King Penguin

The King Penguin is the second largest species of penguin at about , second only to the Emperor Penguin. There are two subspecies—A. p. patagonicus and A. p...

s breed here, at the most northerly part of their range. King penguins were once nearly extinct in the Falklands, and Volunteer Point contains most Falkland specimens. There are also elephant seal

Elephant seal

Elephant seals are large, oceangoing seals in the genus Mirounga. There are two species: the northern elephant seal and the southern elephant seal . Both were hunted to the brink of extinction by the end of the 19th century, but numbers have since recovered...

s here.