New Island (Falkland Islands)
| New Island | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | South Atlantic | |
| Archipelago | Falkland Islands | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 43 ′ S , 61 ° 18 ′ W | |
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| length | 13 km | |
| surface | 22.7 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 226 m | |
New Island ( Spanish Isla de Goicoechea ) is an island in the western Falkland Islands . The 22.7 km², 13 km long island is about 240 km west of the capital of the Falkland Islands, Stanley . The island is characterized by cliffs on the north side, sandy beaches in the east and offshore small islands such as Ship Island or Cliff Knob Island .
New Island was one of the first Falk Islands to be settled by American whalers around 1770 . They were followed by English Quakers who raised sheep here. In the middle of the 19th century, the inhabitants began to mine the guano from the local bird colonies. Today the island is owned by a cooperation that strives to protect the island.
New Island is occasionally called by expedition cruise ships en route from Ushuaia to Stanley. In the area of the main settlement on New Island there is a small museum that shows the history of the island and especially of the former whaling there.
On the treeless, yet scenic island among others are Southern elephant seals , sea lions , Belcher-petrels , Gentoo penguins , red-billed gulls , Schwarzbrauenalbatrose , Subantarktikskuas and Magellan geese home.