Beauchene Island

Beauchene Island
Location
Seal hunters in rookery on Beauchene Island, 1833
Beauchene Island
Beauchene Island shown within the Falkland Islands.
Coordinates:	52°53′11″S 59°12′13″W
Names
English name:	Beauchene Island
Spanish name:	Isla Beauchene
Meaning of names:	named for Jacques Gouin de Beauchêne
Area and Summit
Area:	172 hectares (0.66 sq mi)
Highest elevation:	70 m (230 ft)
Population
Population (2001):	uninhabited
References:
If shown, area and population ranks are for all islands and all inhabited islands in the Falklands respectively.

Beauchene Island depicted on an 18 century map, much further west than actual position (R.W. Seale, ca. 1745, fragment)

Beauchene Island is the southernmost of the Falkland Islands, lying about 34 mi (54 km) south of Porpoise Point in Lafonia. It was discovered in 1701 by Jacques Gouin de Beauchêne in whose honour it was named.

Geography

Beauchene is the most isolated island of the Falkland archipelago. It is uninhabited, free of introduced predators and, because it is so remote, has been protected from disturbance. It is 172 hectares (430 acres) in area. The north of the island is covered in dense tussac with boulder beaches on the western coast and sloping up gently to about 30 metres (98 ft) in height. In the south of the island the land rises to around 70 metres (230 ft). There are higher cliffs on the eastern coast. "The southern quarter of the island is almost bare of vegetation."

There is a natural anchorage on the east side of the island, but this can only be used in fair weather. However there is no resident population and visitors are not permitted on the island without the permission of the Falkland Islands Executive Committee. A typical example was a request that was made by Falklands Conservation to make three visits in October 2010, January 2011 and March 2011 for the purpose of taking a bird census. In their application, it was noted that no people had set foot on the island since a visit by the Shallow Marine Survey Group (SMSG) in December 2009.

History

Anthony de la Roché may have sighted Beauchene Island as early as April 1675. However, this is by no means certain; de la Roché had been rounding Cape Horn and was blown off course. What he visited is usually said to be South Georgia, which fits his descriptions better, particularly of high ice covered mountains and bays in one of which la Roché anchored for a fortnight (see the Seixas y Lovera narrative), but supporters of Argentina's claim to South Georgia more often claim it was Beauchene.

A while after its official discovery in 1701 by Jacques Gouin de Beauchêne, seal trappers tried to settle the island unsuccessfully.

In 1834, the American McArthur landed 100 people on the island, driving the local sea lions to extinction (they have since returned).

The island is currently uninhabited, but there the ruins of a group of houses built in the 1830s, on the west side of the island.

The first proper scientific expedition landed in 1951 by helicopter, staying for a month.

During the Falklands War, there was an Argentine wreck on a reef just south of the islands, and British soldiers lived for around four weeks there.

Flora and fauna

The island is a nature reserve. It is covered in tussac grass and is known for its colony of black-browed albatrosses. A total of thirty species of bird have been recorded on the island including rockhopper penguins. The coast is known for its caves and for its peat, which forms at around ten times the rate of anywhere else in the world. The process by which it forms so fast is not understood fully.^{[citation needed]}