| New Island |
New Island is situated north of Beaver Island. It is 148 miles (238km) from Stanley. Long used as a base for whaling, as a sheep farm and for occasional attempts to collect guano, New Island is now a nature reserve. New Island was one of the earliest of the islands to be colonised, and American whalers may have arrived as early as the 1770s. A couple of the placenames on or near the island, Coffin's Harbour and Coffin's Island, commemorate the family of "Coffin" who came from Nantucket. Nearby islands called "Quaker" and "Penn" reflect the New England provenance of some of the earliest settlers.
In 1813, Captain Charles H. Barnard, from Nantucket, and his crew, were marooned on the island. They survived on the island for two years, and constructed a crude stone building, which is probably incorporated into the Barnard Building, probably the oldest standing building in the Falklands, now a museum restored in 2006.
In 1823, Antarctic explorer Captain James Weddell anchored here, and commented on its excellent harbours and natural food and water supplies. In the 1850s and 60s, the island's guano deposits were mined. A settlement lies in the middle of the east coast of the island, some distance north of an airstrip. There is a shipwreck on the island, the Protector III, beached 1969. It was a former sealing vessel. |
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| Wildlife |
| Wildlife on the island includes fur seals, elephant seals, southern sea lions, thin-billed prions, rockhopper, gentoo and Magellanic penguins, dolphin gulls and black-browed albatrosses. There are no native land animals (other than extinct warrah) or trees, though shrubs have been introduced. An introduced population of American Cottontail rabbit exists on the island. |
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| Whaling and Sealing History |
| Courtesy of www.falklandswildlife.com |
| The natural wealth of the area, its sheltered harbours and its remoteness attracted the somewhat secretive early sealing and whaling operations. The first American whaling vessels probably anchored at New Island around 1774, over 220 years ago. The majority commenced their voyages from New Bedford, New York, Nantucket and other whaling ports of New England. The island became a self styled home of these Americans hence its name "New". New Island has a 'Coffin's Harbour' and nearby lies Coffin Island, both named after the well known family of Coffin who captained many of the whale ships from Nantucket. The Coffins were some of the earliest pioneers of these waters and may even have named New Island. |
| The islands of Quaker, Penn, Fox and Barclay lying close to New Island are all synonymous with the Quaker families who operated whale oil businesses, sending whaling ships to the southern oceans from ports such as Nantucket. The neighboring Beaver Island was named after the whaling vessel "Beaver" which was recorded as being the first whale ship to double Cape Horn. |
| New Island, like many others was to suffer from the depredations of these early exploiters. The colonies of penguins and albatross on the island presented a large source of food in the form of eggs. Wildfowl, especially geese were in abundance and records left by these whalers confirm that large numbers were taken for food. Captain James Weddell anchored at New Island in 1823 and recorded the excellence of its harbours and its value for supplies of wildfowl and fresh water. |
| Depredations continued with the introduction of pigs and American cottontail rabbits. The island's fur seal colonies were exploited although probably only in small numbers. The island suffered deliberate burning by the whalers who only saw the thick growth of vegetation like tussock grass a hindrance to their shore operations. |
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