Falkland Islands Islands Series - Part 3

New Island

Issue Date: 24 October 2003









New Island

Introduction to New Island

New Island (2363 hectares), the most remote of all the inhabited islands, is situated in the extreme south-west of the Falklands and contains some of the finest scenery and largest concentrations of wildlife to be found in the archipelago. It has been a popular destination for smaller expedition cruise vessels since the early 1970's.

From as early as 1774 and for half a century onwards, New Island provided a safe anchorage and sometimes a winter home for British and, more especially, North American passage whaling ships. Coffin Island, Coffin Harbour Barnard Passage and nearby Weddell Island today bear the names of well-known whaling and sealing captains from that era. Neighbouring Beaver Island was named for the first American whaling vessel to double Cape Horn.

On 3rd May 1860 the first Crown Grant for 160 acres of the New Island was issued to Mssrs Smith Brothers and Co. marking the beginnings of the first recorded settlement. Livestock were introduced at around this time and sheep farming for wool was soon after to become the mainstay of the island's economy for over a century.

In May 1972 the island was purchased by the New Island Preservation Company Ltd. The declared aims of this enterprise were to combine sheep farming with wildlife tourism and scientific research. Although the company proved to be a failure and was wound up after 5 years, the concept of eco-tourism had been introduced to the Falklands for the first time. Thirty years on it has become a flourishing industry island-wide.

In 1979 New Island was divided into two equally-sized but independantly run properties. The New Island North Nature Reserve is owned and run by Tony and Kim Chater. New Island South is owned by the New Island South Conservation Trust. All the inhabitants live on the attractive, brightly coloured settlement on the southern section of New Island overlooking Tigre Harbour.

Comprised largely of hard quartz sandstone more than 400 million years old, the island's strata tilted in such a way that the land sweeps up dramatically from the sheltered eastern seaboard of beautiful sandy beaches and natural harbours to towering sea cliffs on the west. These cliffs are exposed to the prevailing winds and are often pounded by high seas. The highest point is Precipice Hill (224m). New Island is one of the driest places in the Falkland Islands with rainfall amounting annually to less than 40cms.

40p - Lady's Slipper Calceolaria fothergillii



Lady's Slipper is a member of the Scrophulariaceae family, which also includes such familiar garden flowers as the foxglove and the snapdragon (antirrhinum). It produces one of the most colourful flowers among the Falkland's native flora. It is often found in small colonies among dwarf shrubs on well-drained sandy soils and occurs at elevations up to 150 metres and as far as 1/4 mile from the coast. Widespread and locally fairly common, this perennial herb also occurs from central Tierra del Fuego northwards to about 46 degrees S in Argentina and 36 degrees S in Chile.

45p - The Stone Cottage



This is the oldest building still in use on New Island. It was probably built between 1875 and 1881 during the time when the property was under the ownership of J.M. Dean and Sons but may have been started as early as the late 1860's. Some of the newspapers from inside the roof, where they were used as lining, date back to 1881. The cottage, which was later extended to house two families, ramained the main dwelling on the island until 1955 when a new "big house" was built adjacent to it by "Cracker" Jack Davis. The walls are beautifully constructed of local stone and clay and the building was cleverly sighted in one of the most sheltered spots on the island. Today it is used as a workshop and garage by the artist of this issue.

40p - Striated Caracara Phalcoboenus australis



The Striated Caracara is considered to be a globally "near-threatened" species with most of the worlds population resident in the islands, although a small number reside on islands to the south and south-west of Tierra del Fuego. It is a remarkably curious, intellegent and adaptable species. Both predator and scavenger, it is usually found in the vicinity of seabird or seal colonies. Eighteenth century sailors noted a similarity to English rooks which, when combined with the bird's particular affinity to gentoo (once known as "johnny") penguin colonies, led to the nickname "johnny rook". Large numbers live year round on New Island. They are extremely agile on the ground and posess powerful feet enabling them to nip in amongst nesting penguins to grab eggs or nestlings. During the winter they are often seen scraping the grounds for grubs, or searching the beaches for mussels and carrion such as dead squid or jellyfish. Once scarce and persecuted by sheep farmers, johnny rooks have staged a remarkable recovery in recent years.

45p - King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus



The largest of the penguin species found in the Falklands, the King Penguin has probably never been plentiful here as it is at the very extreme of it's range. Most of the world population of well over a million pairs breed circumpolarly on sub-antarctic islands including South Georgia, Prince Edward Islands, Iles Crozet and Kerguelen, Heard and Macquarie Islands. In the Falklands, the only substantial colony is at Volunteer point, East Falkland. Smaller groups have appeared in recent years at a number of locations, notably on Saunders Island and usually in association with colonies of the smaller gentoo penguin. On New Island a single pair of kings began to breed in 1988 and egg laying has been recorded most years since then although recorded successful chich-rearing has only occured twice during this period. Kings are exceptionally deep divers and can descend to over 300 metres in persuit of their prey, which consists manly of squid and myctophid fish.



Technical Details

Designer: Tony Chater
Printer: BDT International Printers Ltd
Process: Lithography
Stamp Size: 30.56 x 38mm
Sheet Format: 24 (2x12) Watermark: CA Spiral
Perforation: 14 per 2cms Release Date: 10.11.00
Values: 40p x 2 & 45p x 2

The stamp sheet layout for this series contains the First Day Cover design in the gutter with text and the Crown Agents Logo. The top outer edge also contains text and is not perforated. The four stamps are presented in two sheets with each sheet containing both stamps of the same value.







Copyright: FI Philatelic Bureau Created and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited