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Proceedings of the
Falkland Islands Science Symposium 2015
19-23 January 2015, Stanley, Falkland Islands
March 2015
Editors: A.A. Augé, M. Taylor, D. Blockley, M. Tierney & P. Brickle
For more information, please contact the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute
(SAERI) at officemanager@env.institute.ac.fk or visit http://south-atlantic-research.org/
To cite, please use:
A.A. Augé, M. Taylor, D. Blockley, M. Tierney & P. Brickle (2015). Proceedings of the Falkland
Islands Science Symposium 2015. South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute, Stanley,
Falkland Islands.
i
Acknowledgements
The first Falkland Islands Science Symposium took place between 17 – 24 January, 2015. There
are many people to thank for helping to make it the resounding success that it was. Firstly , we
would like to acknowledge the fantastic enthusiasm and support provided by local Falkland
Islands establishments throughout the event. In particular, we would like to thank the Christ
Church Cathedral for providing the symposium venue in the Parish Hall , Bitter Sweet, Malvina
House Hotel, Waterfront Kitchen Café and the Narrows Bar which provided lovely hospitality,
meals and venues for public talks. Estancia Tours, Michael Peter Goss and Sulivan Shipping Ltd
acted as guides, drivers and boat captains on some amazing field trips . We also acknowledge
the team at NCB Solutions for coordinating facilities required at the venue during the
Symposium and the Print Shop for providing quick and quality printing services. We are also
very grateful to His Excellency The Governor Colin Roberts for hosting the reception at
Government House. And, last but not least, a very large thank you to John Fowler for his help
with logistics.
The Symposium would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the
Falkland Islands Government and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We are also indebted
to Byron Marine and Lewis Clifton for sponso ring Dr Kate Sherren from Dalhousie Univ ersity.
ii
Table of contents
Page
Acknowledgements
i
Table of contents
ii
Foreword
1
Introduction
2
Participants
SAERI
International delegates
Falkland Islands
South Georgia
Media
4
5
9
15
21
22
Summary and outcomes of workshop sessions
Research aspirations in the Falkland Islands
Baseline funding opportunities
Matching facilities to demand
Inter-organisation agreements
23
24
26
29
31
Presentation abstracts
32
Achievements and next steps
43
Field trips
Penguins galore at Volunteer Point, with sheep,
Land Rovers and scientists
Elephant seals, their microbes and whale bones
at Whale Point for the delight of researchers
Shearwaters, whales and much more: An
evening on the water around Kidney Island
45
46
48
50
Blogs
53
Public outreach
70
Programme
73
1
Foreword
It was with great pleasure that I opened the first ever Falkland Islands Science Symposium in January
of this year. This document serves as a record of the productive discussions held throughout that
week.
The Islands, and the South Atlantic region generally, have a long history of scientific and
environmental research, however never before has such a renowned group of scientists met in
Stanley with the single common goal of identifying additional research that can be performed in the
region.
Whether mapping native plant species, forecasting the impact of climate change, or looking at how
communities value their environment, there is undoubtedly a wide range of interesting research that
can be done here. This was clearly identified during our short time together, with the next practical
steps in terms of partnerships, funding and logistics then being discussed in brief.
Not only has this Symposium started the hard work of identifying a road map for further
collaboration, but it has also helped to define for the Falkland Islands Government key areas of
research that can help to inform stronger policy-making in the future. This is of particular importance
to an Island with such rich biodiversity and a resident population that values this so highly.
Finally, whilst there are too many to list individually, I offer my sincere thanks to all who contributed
towards the organisation of, and participated in, the Symposium. I personally found it both very
interesting and informative and I look forward to staying in touch with people over the coming
months and years.
Michael Poole
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Falkland Islands
March 2015
2
Introduction
The objective of the symposium was to bring Pan-American scientists and research leaders to the
Falkland Islands in order to showcase research opportunities in the natural and physical sciences in
the Islands and wider South Atlantic.
The Pan-American delegation represented an ideally timed and high-profile opportunity by bringing
together eminent researchers and members of the media. The symposium significantly raised the
profile of the Falklands as a destination that presents wide-ranging opportunities for collaborative
research in both the physical and natural sciences.
The Falkland Islands and the wider South Atlantic have a great deal to offer in terms of potential
environmental research. The objective of the visit was to give delegates an insight into the research
potential of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, wider South Atlantic and, importantly, to enable
them to forge partnerships and encourage collaboration in the environmental sciences with SAERI
and other scientific groups working in the region. The week comprised workshops and field trips to
Falkland Islands environments and allowed for detailed discussions on potential scientific
programmes that represented organisations could collaborate on.
The Falklands sits on the southern part of the Patagonian Shelf and is one of the most productive
areas in the South Atlantic. Uniquely, it has two marine ecosystems; a southern temperate
ecosystem and a sub-Antarctic ecosystem which are separated by a zone (ecotone) running from the
south-western part to the north-eastern part of the Patagonian Shelf through the Falkland Islands
archipelago. The latter reflects differences in benthic and pelagic communities over small spatial
scales. The abundant pelagic and demersal resources on the Patagonian Shelf support numerous
international trawl and jigging fleets that take a substantial tonnage of squid and finfish annually.
Also testaments to this productivity are the globally important seabird populations in the
archipelago; the Falkland Islands host the largest albatross colonies in the world and host globally
significant populations of five species of penguin. Good science continues to be conducted in the
Falkland Islands and South Atlantic Territories particularly in support of sustainable fisheries and
conservation and as a community we want to build on and diversify this.
Many Falkland Islands and South Atlantic Overseas Territories’ marine environments are near
pristine and not well-studied as are many terrestrial ecosystems processes. The Falklands and South
Georgia also have incredible natural archives (peat and ice) for studying past climate and for
investigating the past abundances and distributions of animals and plants. These include the
sediments in permanent lakes and our extensive peat banks, providing chronologies back to the last
ice age in some areas.
The delegation included nine senior researchers (heads of institutes and heads of departments), that
came from the US, Canada, Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico and a member of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. The media that attended included a representative from
National Geographic and three Uruguayan film-makers. Dr Lindsay Chura of the UK Science and
Innovation Network, Washington, served as lead and escort to the delegation.
3
The Symposium built upon the momentum generated by the 2013 visit from Dr Paul Brickle and
former Governor Nigel Haywood, which resulted in a number MOU agreements with US research
institutions and a number of science exchanges, and served to solidify the relationship between the
Falklands and the US researchers from those institutions. It also served as a catalyst for additional
collaborations, partnerships and MOUs between the Falklands and researchers in North and South
America.
4
Participants
5
SAERI – South Atlantic Environmental
Research Institute
Director, South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute, Falkland Islands
Email: PBrickle@env.institute.ac.fk
Paul has been the director of the South Atlantic Environmental Research
Institute (SAERI) since its founding in 2012. Paul’s interests include the
ecology and oceanography of the southern Patagonian Shelf, particularly
the reproductive biology, age and growth, population dynamics and the
population structure of marine species inhabiting the waters of this region.
He also has a keen interest in marine parasites and their use as biological
tags for investigating the population structure and migration of fish hosts.
Paul is a part of a number of trophic studies of marine fish around the
Falkland Islands and is interested in the environmental and fisheries impact
on trophic structures in communities. His other interests include shallow marine ecology, community
ecology and biogeography of small isolated islands particularly those in the South Atlantic. Paul is an
active diving member of the Falkland Islands based Shallow Marine Surveys Group. He is also a
Reader at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen.
Marine Ecologist
Email: MTierney@env.institute.ac.fk
Megan is a marine ecologist specialising in biodiversity monitoring and
marine higher predators. She joined SAERI in 2014 to jointly run a project
which will fill data gaps needed to inform and monitor potential impacts of
the hydrocarbon industry on the marine environment. Prior to this, Megan
worked with the Australian Antarctic Division for 10-years developing
mitigation and management protocols for detecting and minimising impacts
of environmental change and resource exploitation on the Southern Ocean
ecosystem. In 2010 she joined the World Conservation Monitoring Centre,
the biodiversity assessment and policy support arm of the United Nations
Environment Programme. Whilst there, she was involved with developing biodiversity and ecosystem
services indicators used to assess global biodiversity loss, implementation of national ecosystem
assessments, and developed regional capacity building programmes. She has also spent a number of
years leading ship-based adventure-tourism expeditions to both Polar Regions, around the UK isles,
Norway, Greenland and eastern Canada.
6
Spatial Ecologist
Email: AAuge@env.institute.ac.fk
Amélie is a spatial ecologist working on applied research projects for marine
conservation. Her interests include behavioural ecology, wildlife
management, spatial data and GIS, and management of the coastal and
marine environments. She has a BSc in Biology from the University of
Rennes (France) with a year abroad in Québec at the University of Rimouski.
She completed her MSc in Spatial Ecology and her PhD in Zoology at the
University of Otago (New Zealand) looking at terrestrial habitat use and
foraging ecology of New Zealand sea lions in sub-Antarctic islands and
Otago Peninsula. She then took a postdoc at the ARC Centre of Excellence
for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University (Australia), working on a conservation planning project
for the Great Barrier Reef coastal zone in the light of future coastal development and its cumulative
impacts on the marine environment. Missing the cold, she went back up a few latitudinal degrees
and she is now working on a Marine Spatial Planning project for the Falkland Islands based at SAERI.
This project is a pilot work aimed at producing a framework for the government to develop spatial
plans and legislation to ensure the sustainable use of the marine environment and associated wildlife
of the islands.
Marine Ecologist
Email: DBlockley@env.institute.ac.fk
Within SAERI, David is responsible for managing a project collating and
reviewing the data that has been gathered from the various benthic,
oceanographic and fisheries surveys that is a valuable resource for
environmental decision making and scientific investigations of the
maritime environment of the Falkland Islands. In collaboration with key
stakeholders he is also developing strategies to be used for future surveys.
His previous work at the University of Sydney has involved studying
anthropogenic structures as habitats for intertidal marine organisms and
exploring methods in which intertidal seawalls could be built in order to
maximise the biodiversity supported by these artificial structures. Following this, he moved into
environmental consultancy, focusing on the offshore resource industry. In this role he worked
primarily with the oil and gas industry operating in marine environment of Western Australia,
monitoring impacts of their offshore operations, primarily impacts on subtidal tropical ecosystems
from large scale dredging and coastal construction activities.
7
Marine Ecologist
Email: DDavidson@env.institute.ac.fk
Dr Deborah Davidson is a Marine Ecologist who has always been passionate
about the marine environment and conducting fisheries in a sustainable,
holistic and well-managed fashion. She studied her BSc in Marine Biology
and PhD in Ecology at the University of Aberdeen. Her BSc Honours project
and PhD were investigating several aspects of bioenergetics of North Sea
herring. Deborah has always found this particular facet of fisheries ecology
fascinating as it is so integral to life history characteristics and population
dynamics. Having developed an even stronger passion for, and keen
interest in, marine biology and fisheries ecology, coupled with a love of
carrying out field work at sea and on fishing vessels, and with a desire to build up her experience and
knowledge, she became a scientific fisheries observer with the Falkland Islands Fisheries Department.
During her two years as an observer, she gained plenty of experience and knowledge of all aspects of
commercial fisheries, and also had the chance to conduct a project investigating fat content of the
rock cod Patagonotothen ramsayi.
GIS Specialist and Project Manager
Email: iMarengo@env.institute.ac.fk
iLaria gained an honours degree in Geography at the University of Genoa
(Italy). She also has an MSc in Remote sensing and image processing from
Dundee University and a PhD (developing a GIS and spatial statistics based
method for tackling the landscape character assessment of the Scottish
landscape) from Stirling University. Since graduation iLaria’s interest has
been in GIS since she recognised that they were useful tools to apply
geography to real case studies and consequently improve analysis of
geographical data and provide support to decision makers. iLaria has
gained experience in the field of GIS and database development and
management throughout the last 13 years by being involved in several projects and on different
subjects in Italy, at the JRC centre and at the University of Turin, and in Scotland, at HHA and NAFC
Marine Centre in Shetland and at JNCC in Aberdeen. The broad variety of studies to which iLaria has
applied her knowledge on GIS and database helped her to keep a curious mind, the desire to learn
new skills/ techniques and the passion for problem solving. Her challenging task in SAERI is to
manage and collaborate the setting up of the South Atlantic Information Management and GIS
Centre.
8
Paleoceanographer
Email: VLP@bas.ac.uk
Vicky is a paleoceanographer from the British Antarctic Survey. Vicky gained
a first class Masters in Earth Sciences at Oxford University and then
specialised in the use of sea floor sediments to determine past ocean-
climate conditions for her PhD at Cardiff University. Since joining the British
Antarctic Survey in 2006, Vicky has focussed on the development and
interpretation of multi-proxy records of past ocean conditions from South
Georgia to the West Antarctic Peninsula over through the late Pleistocene.
Vicky is currently working at SAERI on a one year project to assess the
international demand for scientific research on and around South Georgia
and what could be done to make South Georgia more accessible to future
science.
Marine Ecologist
Email: MTaylor@env.institute.ac.fk
Maria studied Marine Biology at Bangor University, Wales, UK and after
completing her undergraduate went straight on to an undergraduate
Master. She graduated in 2012 with a Master in Marine Biology (MMBiol),
a new type of internationally recognised degree. Her Master project was
looking at culture techniques for an exploited tropical gastropod, Turbo
argyrostoma, to see if it was possible to sustain this species in captivity
and consequently ease population pressures in the wild. Most recently
Maria completed a five month internship with Ascension Island
Government Conservation Department, the primary focus of which was
the monitoring of the nesting green turtle (Chelonia mydas) population. This involved collecting track
data on the main nesting beaches, deploying temperature loggers into nests to determine sex ratios
and giving educational talks and field trips to the public. Her role at SAERI is to carry out the BEST III
project, creating Ecosystem Profiles for each South Atlantic UK Overseas Territories to help improve
existing knowledge and guide future research efforts.
9
International Delegates
Comisión Columbiana del Oceano, Colombia
Email: candrade@exocol.com
Retired Naval Officer (Captain) with more than 30 years of experience into
Colombian and Latin American and Caribbean maritime communities.
Extensive experience in scientific oceanographic and tropical meteorology
affairs. Has worked with the Colombian government and industry. Led a
team of experts to provide science and technology services to a large
number of institutions. Has published over 20 articles in international
journals, more than 50 scientific contributions in national journals.
Correspondent Member of the Colombian Academy of Sciences. His main
interest for this visit is to learn about the UK Oceanographic projects in
Antarctica and he is looking forward to finding common interests where ‘new’ Colombian
involvement in the area may be of mutual benefit. Personal research interests in Antarctica are
related to the nature and recent behavior of the convergence zone of the Antarctic Intermediate
Water Mass that arrives to Colombian Waters both in the Caribbean side as well as in the Colombian
waters in the Pacific Ocean. Also, on sea-level acceleration rate related to climate change.
Diplomat and Birder
Email: rarnaudo@aaas.org
Senior Scholar at the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
with over 30 years’ experience in international oceans, environment and
science policy affairs at the State Department, and is an avid birder, having
the opportunity to watch birds on all seven continents. In his last job before
retiring he served on Secretary Clinton’s Policy Planning Staff in the State
Department. He has served abroad at US embassies in London and Moscow
and has a long history of work in oceans and polar affairs, including serving
as the State Department’s lead negotiator for Arctic and Antarctic issues during the formative period
of polar cooperation during the 1980s/90s, including as Chairman of the Arctic Council during the
U.S. chairmanship in 1998-2000. Mr. Arnaudo received his B.A. degree from Stanford University and
his M.A. from the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and served in the U.S.
military. He is a native San Franciscan.
10
Oregon State University, USA
Email: scott.baker@oregonstate.edu
Scott Baker is Associate Director of the Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon
State University, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Biological Sciences,
University of Auckland, New Zealand. He has been involved in research on
whales and dolphins for more than 30 years, starting as an undergraduate
student at New College in Sarasota, Florida, continuing with his PhD at the
University of Hawaii and postdoctoral training at the Smithsonian
Institution and National Cancer Institute. Scott has acted as a delegate to
the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission since
1994, and is a member of the Cetacean Specialist Group of IUCN. He is
currently editor-in-chief of the Journal of Heredity of the American Genetic
Association.
â
Universidade de Brasilia, Brazil
Email: paducamara@gmail.com
Professor Paulo Câmara was born in Brasilia, Brazil in 1970 and has a degree in
biology from the University of Brasilia (1999), a master’s degree in Botany
from the University of Brasilia (2000), a second master’s degree in Science
from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis, USA (2005) and a Ph.D. in Plant
Evolution and Systematics from University of Missouri-Saint Louis, USA (2008).
He currently teaches at the Botany Department at University of Brasilia,
specialising in plant nomenclature, plant phylogenetics, cryptogamic botany
and plant evolution. He is the former chair at the Graduate Program in Botany
in the same institution and currently supervisors 5 PhD and 2 Masters
students. His main areas of interests are plant taxonomy, evolution and systematics of bryophytes.
Professor Paulo has recently start working on bryophyte phylogenetics and phylogeography of
mosses in South Atlantic Islands of Trindade and Fernando de Noronha, and is also investigating bi-
polar distribution of mosses under the auspices of the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR).
11
Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada
Email: Steven.E.Campana@gmail.com
Dr Steven Campana is a Senior Scientist at the Bedford Institute of
Oceanography, where he has worked for the past 32 years. There he directs
an active research program on fish population dynamics, with particular
emphasis on the development of new technologies in support of age
determination, stock discrimination and fish tracking. He currently heads
both the Otolith Research Laboratory and the Canadian Shark Research
Laboratory, and leads several multinational projects on age determination,
stock discrimination and the overall status and health of fish populations.
Universidad de Magallanes, Chile
Email: carlos.cardenas@umag.cl
Doctorate obtained with the thesis entitled "Evaluation of radars,
application in Patriot Hills, Antarctica". After working as a research assistant
in the Antarctic programs of the Universidad de Magallanes, which involved
data processing and support in different research campaigns, Dr Cardenas
won a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to
pursue post degree studies at the technical University of Hamburg,
Germany in the area of radar systems. In October 2006 he received his
doctorate. His thesis subject was High Resolution Radar System for
Geophysical and Glaciological Application. Dr Cardenas returned to the Universidad de Magallanes in
2007, and between November 2010 and September 2014 was Director of the university’s Antarctic
and Sub Antarctic Programmes (DPA). He is currently working on research in this programme in the
area of Radio Glaciology and Remote Sensing for glaciological and geophysical applications.
12
Senior Policy Advisor, Science and Innovation, British Embassy, USA
Email: Lindsay.Chura@fco.gov.uk
Dr Lindsay Chura joined the British Embassy in Washington as a Senior
Policy Advisor in Science and Innovation in September 2013 after
completing her PhD as a Gates Cambridge Scholar at the University of
Cambridge. Lindsay received her doctorate in Psychiatry for her research
that applied neuroimaging techniques to investigate brain structure and
function in children with autism she worked with across England. Prior to
studying in the UK, Lindsay was a Fulbright Scholar at a clinic in Australia
specialising in reproductive medicine. An alumna of Mount Holyoke College,
Lindsay has published across a range of scientific domains, and has previously written for US News &
World Report as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mass Media
Fellow. At the embassy, Lindsay manages the life science and climate portfolios, and is working to
strengthen UK-US partnerships across academia, industry and the public sector.
-
Instituto de Ecologica UNAM, Mexico
Email: tejada@unam.mx
Dr Cesar Augusto Dominguez Perez Tejada is an expert in evolutionary
biology with a particular interest in adaptation evolution. With this goal he
has specialized in the study of the evolution of sexuality in plants,
evolutionary ecology of biotic interactions and conflicts of interest that
underlie the complex dynamics of natural selection such as denso-
dependence and dependence of frequencies. His investigation includes the
development of simulation, experimentation and empiric studies of
ecology. As a result of his investigations he has published more than 50
articles, a dozen chapters of books and articles of scientific diffusion. He is a
regular arbitrator for 14 scientific magazines, two national magazines and copy-editor of the Fondo
de Cultura Economica and the Cambridge University Press.
13
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
Email: vedgcomb@whoi.edu
After completing her graduate studies at the University of Delaware where
she studied salt marsh ecosystems, Dr Virginia Edgcomb came to the
Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, USA to study microbial
eukaryotes and early eukaryotic evolution with Dr Mitchell Sogin. From
there she accepted a National Research Council/NASA fellowship to study
the limits of tolerance of hydrothermal vent archaea to heavy metals in the
laboratory of Dr Andreas Teske at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(WHOI). Dr Virginia Edgcomb has remained at WHOI since 2002, and her
research program currently focuses on understanding the microbiology of marine chemocline
sediments and water columns, with special emphasis on studies of microbial eukaryote (protists and
fungi) populations, using comparative and functional genomics, culture- and microscopy-based
approaches.
University of Maine, USA
Email: paul.mayewski@maine.edu
Dr Paul Mayewski is the Director and distinguished Maine Professor at the
Climate Change Institute, School for Earth and Climate Sciences, School of
Marine Sciences, School for Policy and International Affairs, University of
Maine. With more than 350 peer-reviewed publications, Dr Mayewski’s
scientific achievements include documented changes in atmospheric
chemistry produced naturally and by humans, early discovery of recent
Antarctic and Himalayan ice loss, discovery of behaviour of abrupt climate
change events in the atmosphere, the development of integrated
understanding of multiple controls on climate and the unique role of
human impact on climate. He is a pioneer in the use of instrumentally calibrated ice core records
resulting in global reconstruction of past atmospheric circulation conditions and an early
demonstrator of associations between past climate and disruptions to civilization.
14
Dalhousie University, Canada
Email: kate.sherren@dal.ca
Dr Sherren joined Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and
Environmental Studies in 2010, after a postdoctoral fellowship at the
Australian National University on the social and ecological sustainability of
grazing landscapes. She investigates spatially enabled and enriched social
science to understand the intersection of people, landscape and change. At
the heart is an interest in improving the natural and cultural function and
sustainability of human-modified landscapes, specifically agricultural and
energy, by understanding how citizens and decision-makers perceive and
value them. Dr Sherren also teaches GIS, data visualisation, ecosystem
services and qualitative data analysis.
15
Falkland Islands
Member of Legislative Assembly
Email: MPoole@sec.gov.fk
The Hon Michael Poole is a Falkland Islander and has spent most of his life
in the Islands, before travelling to the United Kingdom for higher
education. He studied Business & Management at undergraduate level and
in 2014 completed an MBA from Warwick University. Michael Poole was
first elected to Legislative Assembly in 2013, becoming the first Member of
Legislative Assembly to be born after the Falklands War in 1982. He won his
seat with 957 votes, believed to be the highest number of votes recorded
in a Falkland Islands General Election. He currently has portfolio
responsibility for ‘Policy & Public Diplomacy’. This involves helping
coordinate the Government’s international diplomacy efforts whilst also chairing a number of
committees, including the Environment Committee, Lands Committee and Planning & Building
Committee.
Member of Legislative Assembly
Email: MSummers@sec.gov.fk
Born in the Falklands, the Hon Mike Summers obtained a BA in Business
Studies at Middlesex University 1975. He worked in a number of business
development, petrochemical construction and engineering companies
focusing on Africa and the Far East before returning to the Falkland Islands
in 1989 as the General Manager of the FI Development Corporation.
Amongst other responsibilities, Mike led early road construction and
transport planning, helped develop fisheries licensing policies and planning
of minerals exploration, set up the Chilean airlink, and guided tourism
development. He is the owner and Managing Director of Pioneer Seafoods
Ltd and co-owner and Director of Quark Fishing Ltd. First elected to
Legislative Council in 1996, he has been re-elected a further five times, serving many years on
Executive Council, and ten years as Chair of Standing Finance Committee. Key focus has always been
the economy and foreign affairs. He was Chair of the Select Committee on the Constitution, and
initiated the Islands Plan in 1996 and the Economic Development Strategy in 2008. He currently holds
the Health and Public Protection port-folio.
16
Senior Fisheries Scientist, Department of Natural Resources
Email: aarkhipkin@fisheries.gov.fk
Dr Alexander Arkhipkin is a senior fisheries scientist with the Falkland
Islands Fisheries Department, specializing in marine biology, ecology and
fisheries and providing advice on the management of commercial
cephalopod and fish stocks. After his graduation from the Lomonosov
Moscow State University, he joined the Laboratory of Commercial
Invertebrates of the Atlantic Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and
Oceanography in Kaliningrad, working on biology, ecology and fisheries of
cephalopods in a wide variety of regions. In 1989, he completed his Ph.D.
thesis ‘Age and growth of the squid of family Ommastrephidae’ in the
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology in Moscow. Following this he worked as
Visiting Professor in Istituto di Tecnologia della Pesca e del Pescato, Mazara del Vallo, Italy before
joining Falkland Islands Fisheries Department in 1998. His research interests include systematics,
distribution, age, growth, stock structure, migrations, trophic relations, reproductive biology and
population modelling of many cephalopod species from different parts of the world ocean.
Director, Department of Natural Resources
Email: jbarton@fisheries.gov.fk
John Barton grew up on an East Falkland sheep farm, and was educated in
the Falklands, Uruguay (International Baccalaureate) and Wales (BSc in
Marine Biology and Oceanography, 1982, University College of North
Wales). John worked on surveys of Falkland’s inshore fishery resources and
crab and inshore trawling, in 1984-85. In 1986-87 he was employed as
Fisheries Observer at the inception of the Falkland Islands Government
Fisheries Department and has since held positions of Fisheries Scientist
and Director. Major achievements John has contributed to include: arming
the Falklands fishery protection vessel, localizing much of the fisheries
science work, instigating growth of the Falklands fishery sector which has been assisted through
implementing a fishing rights or Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) system. John has also attended
virtually all the meetings of the bilateral (UK – Argentina) South Atlantic Fisheries Commission whilst
it was operational. He was appointed as Director of Natural Resources (Fisheries & Agriculture) in
October 2009.
17
CEO, Falklands Conservation
Email: ceo@conservation.org.fk
Fisheries Scientist, Department of Natural Resources
Email: pbrewin@fisheries.gov.fk
Paul gained his PhD at the University of Otago, New Zealand, studying the
deep-benthic community ecology in New Zealand's fjords, and has held a
Post Doctoral Fellowship at the University of California San Diego, where he
studied seamount community ecology and oceanography. Paul has a
general interest in marine benthic communities and has published across a
wide range of topics including sea urchin reproductive ecology, drivers of
community diversity, deep-sea coral predictive distribution modelling, and
history of deep-sea research. Paul is also interested in shallow marine
ecology and participate in activities of the Shallow Marine Surveys Group.
Senior Agricultural Advisor, Department of Natural
Resources
Email: ICampbell@doa.gov.fk
Ian Campbell is the Senior Agricultural Advisor in the Falkland Island
Department of Agriculture. He is an Australian agricultural scientist with a
background in research, extension and training in the grazing industry. His
particular interest is sheep nutrition and management.
18
Department of Mineral Resources
Email: RCordeiro@mineralresources.gov.fk
Roddy Cordeiro is Senior Projects Officer at FIG’s Department of Mineral
Resources. A linguist by trade, he studied Iberian and Latin American
Studies at the University of Southampton, during which time he spent a
year in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. He worked as a translator for a media
monitoring company in the City of London for two years prior to returning
to the Islands in 2007. He originally joined the Department in a policy
research capacity, but has increasingly focussed on environmental
regulation and is currently leading the work on the review and update of
offshore environmental legislation. He is also in the process of completing
an MSc in Environmental Management and Assessment.
Conservation Science Officer, Falklands Conservation
Email: cso@conservation.org.fk
Sarah has +10 years’ experience working within conservation and research
sectors at the Falkland Islands. Her background includes biodiversity
monitoring and conservation management which has included a variety of
roles from assessing fisheries by-catch to key species population
monitoring. Sarah joined Falklands Conservation in 2006 which has enabled
her to visit a vast number of offshore islands and important wildlife
destinations within the archipelago resulting in considerable knowledge of
the flora and fauna of the Islands as well as understanding local perceptions
and attitudes to environmental and conservation aspects. A large part of
her role is to help disseminate information through policy, management and species action plans, as
well as outreach and awareness programmes in the local community. Sarah established the Islands’
first wildlife rehabilitation facility, developing specific protocols for dealing with oiled birds at the
Falklands as well as linking to contingency planning within the offshore hydrocarbon exploration
sector. More recently Sarah is completing a research degree on Rockhopper Penguins and regularly
represents Falklands Conservation at international seabird conferences. Previously Sarah worked as a
scientific scuba-diver in New Zealand, a fisheries observer on the Grand Banks in North Atlantic and
as a nature guide and lecturer on Antarctic and sub-Antarctica ship-based tourism expeditions.
19
Fisheries Scientist, Department of Natural Resources
Email: MGras@fisheries.gov.fk
After gaining his master’s degree in marine ecology at the University of Paris
in 2005, Michaël Gras worked as a geo-spatial database developer for IRD
(Dakar, Senegal) and Ifremer (Nantes, France). He then did a PhD in the
University of Caen Lower-Normandy (France) to improve the knowledge of
English Channel cuttlefish stock dynamics, one of the most important
resources exploited by French and UK fishermen in this area. He is now a
stock assessment scientist in Falkland Islands Fisheries Department, dealing
with finfish stocks exploited by trawlers in the Falkland Islands Conservation
Zones.
Independent Environmental Consultant
Email: Munro@horizon.co.fk
Senior Veterinary Officer, Department of Natural Resources
Email: SPointing@doa.gov.fk
Graduated as a vet from Bristol University in 1979. Worked in practice for a
short while before returning to University (Edinburgh) to study for an MSc
in Tropical animal health and production. Subsequently worked as a vet in
the Yemen Arab Republic, Vanuatu and New Zealand before returning to
the UK. Have worked in the Falklands as SVO since 1998. Wide range of
veterinary interests but particularly interested in developing agricultural
systems. Now very experienced (aka old) and hopefully, wiser!
20
Fisheries Scientist, Department of Natural Resources
Email: JPompert@fisheries.gov.fk
Joost has worked in the Falkland fishery since 1991. He started as a
Scientific Fisheries Observer, worked for a private fishing and returned to
the Fisheries Department to coordinate the observer team. Joost has also
taken part in many fisheries research cruises around the islands, as well as
joint research cruises with the Argentine institute INIDEP. Joost has an MSc
from the University of Aberdeen on the biology of two skate species, and is
involved with the Shallow Marine Surveys Group and with seabird by-catch
mitigation work for the Agreement on Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP).
Environmental Officer, Department of Environmental Planning
Email: NRendell.planning@taxation.gov.fk
Nick has a BSc in geography and politics from the University of Sheffield
and a Master’s degree in environmental management from Manchester
University. Nick has worked as an ecologist at the Environmental Planning
Department for the last five years. His role encompasses the regulation of
interactions with biodiversity, ranging from scientific research permitting
to acting as focal point for international multilateral environmental
agreements. He is responsible for the implementation of targets within the
Falkland Islands Biodiversity Strategy (2008-18) that supports the targets
laid out in the Convention on Biological Diversity. Nick has always been
interested in wildlife and spends much of his spare time on his family’s farm, Bleaker Island.
ACAP Officer, Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Email: Anne.Saunders@jncc.gov.uk
Habitat Restoration Officer, Falklands Conservation
Email: habitatsrestore@conservation.org.fk
21
South Georgia
Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Falkland Islands
Email: ceomobile@gov.gs
Following a degree in Zoology (Reading University, 1989), Dr Martin Collins
spent a year working as a fisheries observer in the early days of the
Falkland Islands licensed fishery. Working as an observer on the squid
fisheries stimulated Martin’s interest in squid and in 1991 he embarked on
a PhD (Cork, Ireland) on the ecology of inshore squid populations. After
completing his PhD (1994), Martin moved to Aberdeen University as a post-
doctoral researcher and later as a lecturer. After 4 years lecturing Martin
joined the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) as a Senior Marine Ecologist,
working on the ecology of the Southern Ocean, with a focus on fish and fisheries. During seven years
at BAS Martin spent each austral summer on or around South Georgia, including leading numerous
research cruises and undertaking field work on king penguins. In 2009 Martin was appointed Chief
Executive and Director of Fisheries for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and has been in
that role since. Martin’s six years with GSGSSI have been busy and productive. He has overseen the
creation of a large, sustainably managed MPA, the eradication of non-native species from sections of
the island and been responsible for a fisheries management regime that is now recognised as one of
the best in the world. Martin is the author or co-author of over 100 peer reviewed scientific papers
and was awarded the OBE in the New Year Honours in 2014 in recognition of his contribution to
science and conservation on South Georgia.
Marine Fisheries Officer GSGSSI
Email: mfs@gov.gs
Dr Kathrine Ross studied benthos and scallop aquaculture at Port Erin
Marine Laboratory (Isle of Man) and then spent two years as a Fisheries
Scientist at King Edward Point (South Georgia). More recently she worked
on Marine Protected Area policy for the Joint Nature Conservation
Committee in Aberdeen and on salmon, seatrout and shellfish stock
assessment and habitat restoration in the Outer Hebrides (Scotland). She
joined the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
in November 2012 as the Marine and Fisheries Officer.
22
Media
National Geographic Society Writer, Editor
Email: ahowley@ngs.org
Andrew Howley is dedicated to bringing stories of research and exploration
directly from the field to the public through National Geographic's online
presence. He has edited hundreds of updates from explorers in all disciplines
and regions of the globe, and has reported directly on expeditions and other
scientific gatherings such as the annual Dialogue of Civilizations archaeology
conferences, and BioBlitz 24-hour species inventories in the U.S. National
Parks. In 2012, he chronicled the National Geographic Pristine Seas
expedition to the remote and legendary Pitcairn Islands, exploring the land
and diving the waters. He has walked across 70 miles of the Sonoran Desert with conservationist
Mike Fay, and joined paleoanthropologist Lee Berger on a month-long excavation of early hominid
remains from a cave in South Africa. He uses text, photos, and classic style illustration to tell the
stories of the new age of exploration.
Box Multimedia, Uruguay
Email: jeanniefontaina1@mac.com
A team of three composed of Jeannie Fontaina (Executive Producer), Nicole Regusci (Field Producer)
and Alvise Erizzo (Camera) joined the symposium to film and record the activities. A documentary will
be produced and shown on TV and in cinemas in as many places as possible around the world.
23
Summary and Outcomes of
Workshop Sessions
24
One of the major objectives of the symposium was to brainstorm and discuss the aspirations that
people have for research in the South Atlantic. The introductions of the first day by local delegates
and SAERI staff gave a general overview of the islands, current research, and capacity that already
exists. The field trips and one-on-one meetings in the following days also allowed international
delegates to learn more about the Falkland Islands, their wildlife and people.
From a combination of one-on-one sessions, sub-group discussions and overall report-back sessions,
the delegates developed and formulated ideas. The research themes spanned widely from
oceanography to social science, from South Georgia to Ascension Island. Overall, the enthusiasm
from everyone was visible during every step. The topics for potential projects that were further
discussed and developed during the session included:
Physical projects:
Sediment core in seabird colonies to examine past climate and trophic relations
Autonomous atmospheric sampling for long-term monitoring of climate change and its
impacts around the Falkland Islands and South Georgia
Seabed mapping at various locations
Coastal erosion and paleo coastlines studies in the Falkland Islands and South Georgia
Using marine mammals as data collectors around the Falkland Islands and South Georgia
Determining the ice thickness of South Georgia glaciers with radar
South Georgia ice coring to develop a several hundred to several hundred thousand year long
record of climate and environmental change in the South Atlantic
Terrestrial projects:
Phylogeography of lower plants in the South Atlantic, including Ascension and St Helena
Autonomous coastal and ocean monitoring systems in the ocean, around and between
Falkland Islands and South Georgia
Baseline study with permanent exclusion plots for vegetation recovery monitoring
Impact of guano on the vegetation in the Falkland Islands
Evolutionary ecology of plants and insects across the South Atlantic islands
Pollination mechanisms for flowering plants in the Falkland Islands in the absence of bees
Ecosystem services assessment and valuation for the Falkland Islands
Marine projects:
Habitat classification for the Falkland Islands marine environment
Marine biogeography of tropical Atlantic islands, including Ascension and St Helena
Falkland Islands cetaceans, with a focus on unusual coastal habitat use
Ocean tracking of tropical, Ascension and St Helena, and Falkland Islands sharks
Post-release mortality study of bycatch species in the Falkland Islands fisheries
Microbial markers for monitoring the effects of hydrocarbon exploitation around the
Falkland Islands
Genetic study of toothfish in the Falkland Islands and South Georgia
A database and genetic archive for cetacean stranding in the South Atlantic
25
Along with research projects, discussions also included a large component on technologies that could
be used across a number of projects in the marine and physical sciences. These technologies included
side-scan sonars, sea gliders and coastal and deep-sea mooring stations for various equipment.
The project ideas varied from small short-term studies to large scale decade-long research
programmes. The richness of the Falkland Islands appeared to give everyone voracious appetite for
research, and the collaborations fostered during each session will lead to more in-depth approaches
being developed to tackle the challenges of working in the South Atlantic. Overall, a number of
research projects were clearly designed and made ready for funding submissions; while others were
outlined and work will be focused on refining them to lead to research proposals. Numerous ideas
during brainstorming sessions were also recorded and will be great starting points for future
research.
The table below summarises the different funding opportunities that were mentioned during the workshop, basic details, and links to more information.
Name
Summary
Dateline
Conditions/Restrictions
Website
Darwin Initiative
The initiative funds projects that help
countries rich in biodiversity but poor in
financial resources to meet their
objectives under one or more
international biodiversity conventions
May/June each year
Available to UKOTs under the
Darwin Plus programme.
Funding for 2 years maximum
https://www.gov.uk/governme
nt/groups/the-darwin-initiative
EU BEST – Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Services
in the European
Overseas Territories
Supports and promotes applied scientific
projects with practical applications for the
conservation of biodiversity and
sustainable use of ecosystem services
June 2015 and May
2016, with future
dates to be advised
For EU overseas territories only.
Must have a partner based
within the overseas territory.
http://ec.europa.eu/environme
nt/nature/biodiversity/best/fun
ding/index_en.htm
Falkland Islands
Environmental Studies
Budget
Funds for projects that must assist in the
management of the biodiversity of the
Falkland Islands
July each year
Must be Falkland Islands-based
projects
http://www.falklands.gov.fk/ou
r-home/scientific-research/
Global Conservation
Fund (GCF) -
Conservation
International
Aims to protect critically important natural
areas, benefiting communities around the
globe
International
http://www.conservation.org/p
rojects/Pages/global-
conservation-fund.aspx
Inter-American Institute
(IAI)
Aims to develop the capacity of
understanding the integrated impact of
past, present and future global change on
regional and continental environments in
the Americas
http://www.iai.int/
Joint Nature
Conservation
Committee (JNCC)
Aims to provide support for both small-
scale, Overseas Territories proposed
projects and more strategic work that
supports both long term OT capacity
building and UK Government policy
objectives
March and
September each year
Member of the UK Overseas
Territories and Crown
Dependencies Steering Group
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/defaul
t.aspx?page=4582
26
Name
Summary
Dateline
Conditions/Restrictions
Website
KECK Foundation
Aims to supports outstanding science,
engineering and medical research and
undergraduate education
February and July
each year
US institutions
http://www.wmkeck.org/grant-
programs/grant-programs
Leverhulme trust
Provides grants and scholarships for
research and education
Multiple different
grants available
throughout the year
UK-based principal applicants
only
http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/
National Lottery Funds
Includes funds for conservation, nature
and environments
Multiple different
grants available
throughout the year
International
http://www.lotterygoodcauses.
org.uk/
MITACS
Has a range of fellowships and funding for
research internship program for grad
students, PhD and postdoc fellowships
Anytime
Canadian universities mainly
https://www.mitacs.ca/en
Moore Science Program
- Moore Foundation
Invests in the development of new
technologies, supports the world’s top
research scientists and brings together
new, often ground breaking, scientific
partnerships
Multiple
International
http://www.moore.org/
National Environment
Research Council
(NERC)
Funds research across the environmental
sciences. Invests in the large research
infrastructure, equipment and skills,
supporting long-term science and enable
emergency response. NERC funds
postgraduate training
Principal Investigator on the
proposal must reside in the UK
and be employed by an eligible
UK organisation
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding
National Geographic
Provides funding for exploratory fieldwork
that holds promise for breakthroughs in
the natural and social sciences
http://www.nationalgeographi
c.com/explorers/be-an-
explorer/
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration
http://www.noaa.gov/
National Science
Foundation (NSF)
Welcomes proposals on behalf of all
qualified scientists, engineers and
educators
Anytime
Must include US institutions
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/
27
Name
Summary
Dateline
Conditions/Restrictions
Website
Newton Fund
Aims to develop science and innovation
partnerships that promote the economic
development and welfare of developing
countries
July and September
each year
Work in partnership with Brazil,
Chile, Colombia, Mexico
https://www.gov.uk/governme
nt/publications/newton-fund-
building-science-and-
innovation-capacity-in-
developing-countries
Ocean 5
Makes direct grants, leverages matching
grants, provides in-kind services and
shares strategic guidance for studies on
overfishing and to establish marine
reserves
http://oceans5.org/who-we-
are/
Pew Charitable Trusts
Pew’s research projects include data
analysis, public opinion surveys and
support for biomedical and marine science
http://www.pewtrusts.org/en
ProAntar – the Brazilian
Antarctic Programme
Brazilian Naval programme supporting
scientific exploration in the Antarctic
Every 3 years
Requires a Brazilian partner, for
fieldwork below 60oS
https://www.mar.mil.br/secirm
/proantar-i.html
ProTrinidade – Scientific
Research Program on
the Island of Trindade
Facilitates the conduct of scientific
research on the island of Trindade,
archipelago Vaz Martins and the
surrounding sea areas
Requires a Brazilian partner
http://www.mar.mil.br/secirm/
protrindade-i.html
Schmidt Ocean Institute
Advances oceanographic research,
discovery, and knowledge, and catalyzes
sharing of information about the oceans
http://www.schmidtocean.org/
UNAM
Mexican institutions only
http://www.unam.mx/
US Federal grants
Centralised grant application website for
federal grants in the US
US citizens only
http://www.grants.gov/web/gr
ants/home.html
Other potential sources of funding opportunity mentioned were Universal, Basic Science, COLCIENCIAS (Administrative Department of Science, Technology
and Innovation; Colombia) and CONICYT (Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation; Chile).
28
29
It was recognised that in order to realise the many project ideas that were raised and discussed
during the Symposium that specific facilities or equipment would be required to undertake them. To
gain an idea of the range and overlap of that required, participants were set the task of identifying:
What type of field sites – where are/could these be located? And what logistics need
to be considered?
What type of labs or infrastructure – were are/could these be located? What type of
storage is required? How big may research teams be?
Who already has access to require to facilities or equipment?
How could access to other facilities or equipment be achieved?
The table on the next page summarises the needs identified and discussed amongst the three expert
groups – terrestrial, physical and marine.
It is evident that there is much overlap in terms of basic equipment and facilities between the
different disciplines. Many of the international delegates highlighted that their institutes have
specialist laboratories and some of the equipment identified as required. Establishment of formal
MOUs and joint projects between institutes may help facilitate access to these. However it was also
agreed amongst all participants that having some of the standard equipment and facilities available
in the Falkland Islands and/or other overseas territories would be highly beneficial both in terms of
advancing the capacity of the region for carrying out important research and attracting other to
operate in the area.
It is the ambition of SAERI to build a bespoke building with laboratory, office and accommodation
space. However, in the short-term, priority items identified by the group included:
Employing a full-time logistics officer
Having dedicated visiting scientist accommodation
Having dedicated visiting scientist office space and meeting rooms
In-country field assistants
Access to basic field equipment and transport – e.g. camping equipment, off-road vehicles
(plus drivers)
Freezer space
Storage space and workshop
High speed/high capacity internet access (without exorbitant costs)
To further prioritise and identify needs, it was suggested that a document should be created and
shared amongst the institutes and other overseas territories with the details of facilities available
and accessibility.
30
It was also suggested that possibilities of establishing joint programmes and post-graduate
studentships (with relevant support) should be explored (e.g. like those between WHOI/MIT),
including whether SAERI could establish undergraduate student field courses.
Summary of the needs identified and discussed in each group:
Terrestrial
Physical
Marine
Field Sites
Semi-permanent plots
x
Field accommodation
x
Facilities
Kitted out dry lab
x
x
x
Kitted out wet lab
x
Sterile Lab - molecular work
x
x
Large freezer -20°C
x
x
Freezer -70°C
x
Freezer -80°C
x
x
Workshop
x
x
x
Storage shed
x
x
x
Outdoor area
x
Equipment
Remote imagery
x
GPS camera
x
Drones
x
x
Genetic analyses
x
Specialist software
x
Printers
x
Map plotters
x
Camping equipment
x
x
Comms equipment - e.g. sat phone, VHF radio
x
x
Off-road vehicles
x
x
x
Research vessel - offshore
x
Helicopter (health and safety)
x
Ice core cutter
x
Research vessel - nearshore
x
x
Dinghies - lake sampling, close coastal work
x
x
SCUBA diving equipment
x
Bicycles - Stanley transport
x
Logistics
Visiting scientist accommodation - Stanley
x
x
x
Visiting scientist office space & meeting rooms
x
x
x
Field assistants
x
x
x
Logistics coordinator (incl. arranging permits)
x
x
x
Technicians
x
x
x
Local 4WD drivers/guides
x
x
x
Internet access
x
x
x
Library reference
x
Journal access
x
Student fellowships
x
x
x
Longer-term/Permanent SAERI positions
x
x
x
31
-
One of the mains aims of the week was to discuss the formal steps towards collaboration between
institutes in the form of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). An MoU describes a bilateral or
multilateral agreement between two or more parties. It expresses a meeting of will between the
organisations, indicating an envisioned common line of action. Often used in cases where institutes
do not imply a legal commitment or in situations where the parties cannot create a legally
enforceable agreement. It is a formal arrangement that sets out the aspirations of both parties, with
regards to research and collaboration, and can serve as a reminder to agreed approaches and
obligations.
Over the coming weeks and months SAERI, and Falkland Islands’ organisations, will be in discussion
about the structure and content of MoUs with the institutes and universities that were represented
by the Pan-American Science Delegations. Some have already been discussed with others in
development and in the design phase. One was actually signed over breakfast during the symposium
week!
32
Presentation Abstracts
33
Dr Paul Brickle – Director, South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute,
Falkland Islands
The South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) is an academic organisation conducting
research in the South Atlantic from the tropics down to the ice in Antarctica. SAERI's remit includes
natural and physical sciences. It aims to conduct world class research, teach students, and build
capacity within and between the United Kingdom South Atlantic Overseas Territories (UK SA OTs).
SAERI was created by the Falkland Islands Government's Economic Development Strategy within the
new industries section. The objectives are to try and move away from our reliance on the three main
core areas of the economy: fisheries, agriculture and tourism. Many first world countries have
knowledge economies and it was agreed that an Environmental Research Institute could fill this gap
in the Falkland Islands and other UK SA OTs.
SAERI’s goals are to: 1) Mature into a world class academic institute conducting research in the
wider South Atlantic; 2) Establish research themes that span multiple environmental disciplines to be
developed through five focal themes: Marine Sciences, Terrestrial Sciences, Physical Sciences, GIS
and Informatics, and Commercial consultancy; 3) Teach and mentor PhD and MSc students working
in the South Atlantic in conjunction with partner institutes; 4) Develop a GIS and Data Curation
Centre of Excellence for the South Atlantic; and 5) Address contemporary environmental issues and
advance understanding of the sustainable use of the South Atlantic’s natural and mineral resources
through consultancy.
This talk charts the formation and recent history of SAERI’s development. The presentation will also
describe SAERI’s strategic development and aspirations over the next 5 years.
Professor Paulo Câmara - Universidad de Brasilia, Brazil
This presentation will cover the four main areas of research conducted in Professor Câmara’s
laboratory at the Universidad de Brasilia:
1. Bipolar Distribution of Mosses. About 45% of moss species in Antarctica are of Bipolar
distribution. We are currently using molecular techniques to better understand this pattern.
Does the species belong to same evolutionary lineages? Are there cryptic speciation going
on? Does the haplotype distribution reflect geographical distribution?
2. Biogeography of plants in Trindade Island. We have chosen three plant species (one
flowering plant, one fern and one moss) commonly distributed in the island and used
molecular techniques to understand its evolutionary and taxonomic relationship with their
continental pairs.
3. REFLORA. A more taxonomic oriented project aiming to locate old collections made in Brazil
by early naturalists and that are now hosed in European Herbaria. We aim to locate, identify
and digitalize all the data and make it available online to the general public.
PROTAX. Brazilian program to enhance taxonomy expertize, we are currently undergoing a
monograph of the genus Callicostella for the Neotropics, the family Thuidiaceae for the neotropics
and the genera Acroporium, Donnellia, Meiothecium and Trichosteleum (Sematophyllaceae).
34
Professor César A. Domínguez Pérez-Tejada - Instituto de Ecologica UNAM,
Mexico
My main interest revolves around the study of the origin, maintenance and evolution of adaptation,
mainly from an organismic and phenotypic perspective. Given the amplitude of this issue, I chose the
reproductive systems of plants as my study system. Plant reproduction is appropriate to deal with
adaptation problems because of the huge variation plants exhibit in terms of the spatial and
temporal expression of sexual functions, flower morphology, pollination systems, seed dispersal,
mating strategies and resource allocation. Since these patterns of variation can be conceived as
different evolutionary solutions moulded by natural selection, one of my goals is to understand what
the factors responsible for this variation are.
Besides their intrinsic biological interest and the striking variation exhibited by plant reproductive
attributes, plant reproduction is also an ideal study system because it is influenced by processes as
context-dependent selection (density- and frequency-dependence), conflicts of interest, deceit and
cheating, and inbreeding depression, that altogether produce the complex selective dynamics
resulting in the myriad of forms in which plants express their sexuality.
In my contribution I shall show three brief examples of my work, namely the evolution of heterostyly
in Oxalis alpina, the cheating strategies followed by Begonia gracilis to get pollinated, and some
results of my recent work on the evolution of floral phenotypic integration.
--
Dr Kate Sherren – Dalhousie University, Canada
I take a landscape and place-based perspective in social-ecological systems, to inform the balance of
ecosystem integrity, resource wealth and cultural values. I combine qualitative and quantitative
methods, including photo-based interview methods and spatial analysis, to explore landscape
meanings and aspirations, typically in a climate change context. This presentation will outline a few
projects of mine that relate best to the situation of the Falklands, including:
1. Photo-elicitation work with farmers in Canada and Australia to examine the drivers of
land management practices around scarce landscape features (wetlands and scattered
trees, respectively);
2. Q method (statement sorting) to balance culture, recreation, agriculture and
infrastructure protection in Nova Scotia’s historic but threatened dykelands;
3. A photo-based Q method study to inform sustainable agricultural development in
Romania to avoid biodiversity collapse; and
4. In-situ research to understand how people build relationships to utilitarian landscape
features, like hydroelectric dam headponds, and what such shifting baselines of
acceptability say about the landscape transitions associated with energy transitions.
35
Professor Paul Mayewski - Director, Climate Change Institute, University of
Maine, USA
The Climate Change Institute is an interdisciplinary research unit organized to conduct research and
graduate education focused on variability of Earth’s climate, ecosystems, and other environmental
systems, and on the interaction between humans and the natural world. Institute investigations
span the last 2 million years to the present, a time of numerous glacial/interglacial cycles and abrupt
changes in climate as a tool for predicting future climate change. Research activities include globally
distributed field studies, laboratory, cyberinfrastructure, and modelling that focus on the timing,
causes, and mechanisms of naturally and anthropogenically forced climate change, and on the
effects of climate changes on the physical, biological, chemical, social, and economic conditions of
the planet with applications to current and future climate mitigation, adaptation and sustainability.
In partnership with SAERI, CCI is currently focusing on four climate research themes: 1) the role of
the South Atlantic Ocean in the termination of the last ice age, the largest natural temperature rise
in Earth’s recent history; 2) marine-terrestrial linkages of the last 20,000 years throughout the
Falkland Islands and South Georgia as a baseline for understanding the effects of climate change and
human land use on biodiversity; 3) pre-European presence on the Falkland Islands and implications
for human migration in the Southern Hemisphere; 4) changes in the strength and position of the
Southern Hemisphere westerlies over the last 2000 years and subsequent impacts on water
availability, temperature, surface ocean circulation, and ecosystems as a predictive tool for
understanding future climate change.
-
Dr Carlos Cárdenas - Dirección de Programas Antárticos y Subantárticos,
Universidad de Magallanes, Chile
The Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Programs Centre from Universidad de Magallanes was created in
1994 primarily for the development and implementation of scientific and specific technological
research at the University of Magallanes in the different natural systems of Antarctica, including the
sub-Antarctic. These areas are recognized as the bigger natural laboratories, hence the importance
to the global scientific community.
In order to achieve the above, currently one of the areas that is being developing at the University of
Magallanes is the study of glaciers through physical characterization, by means of the use of remote
sensing instruments, including Radio Echo Sounding by terrestrial and air borne systems, in
conjunction with GPS's (used as geolocation systems in field), as well as satellite image analysis
(optical and/or radar) to study the dynamics and topography of subglacial characterization. This will
enable the identification of optimal sites for ice core extraction - for example our work at the Claveré
Plateau on in Antarctic Peninsula. Places included in the studies are: glaciers of northern, central and
southern Chile (Jotabeche, San Francisco, Tyndall and Grey glacier, respectively) and in Antarctica,
including Patriot Hills area, Union Glacier, Dome de la Infanteria and Plateau La Claveré in the north-
eastern part of the Antarctic Peninsula.
36
One of the important objectives that we are currently focused on is the establishment of a Centre
for Remote Sensing in Punta Arenas which proposes the development of tools that allow, through
the study and analysis of satellite imagery, complementary work with local remote sensing, and that
supports, both scientifically and technologically, the research currently being developed by our
university, especially if it is associated with university activities as part of new professional vocations.
Dr Carlos Amaya - Comisión Colombiana del Oceano, Colombia
The Colombian Oceanographic Commission is an advisory office of the Colombian government for
issues related to science and technologies of the sea. The Commission is cooperating on the
Colombian Antarctic Program that sent a ship to Antarctica during the summer 2014-2015 to make
oceanographic measurements at the Gulf of Gerlache, beginning a more definitive step towards
showing Colombia’s interest on the area. Even though Colombia is located in the tropics, it is well
known that Antarctic humpback whales visit the Colombian coast during the boreal winter. It is also
known that Antarctic Intermediate Water occupies the water masses offshore Colombia in the
Caribbean and the Pacific at 400-600m. Enough reasons to have legitimate interest in the Antarctic
sub polar and polar climate change. Experiences were presented in terms of future heat transfer
with corresponding sea-level rise and of main wave energy flux direction changes that will have
severe impacts on coastal erosion. Recommendations for developing a coastal atmospheric-oceanic
monitoring network system as a primary factor for calibration of numerical hydrodynamic models
were presented.
Dr Virginia Edgcomb - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
Marine oxycline and halocline environments are sites of intensive biogeochemical cycling and
elemental sequestration, where prokaryotes are major driving forces mediating carbon, nitrogen,
sulfur, phosphorus, and metal cycles, important from both biogeochemical and evolutionary
perspectives. Particular groups of protists are common inhabitants. These habitats reveal frequent
associations between single-celled eukaryotes and prokaryotes. This suggests such partnerships
confer a fitness advantage in these habitats for protists, and possibly, their partners. Changes in
ocean temperature and circulation patterns compounded by human activities are leading to
expansion of oxygen-depleted zones. Distinct shifts in taxonomic composition can be seen over
annual stratification cycles that capture bloom dynamics, and reveal patterns of redox-driven niche
specialization relevant to shifts in nutrient and climate active trace gas cycling.
Dr Steven E. Campana - Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada
Our laboratory focuses on the development of robust, accurate methods for confirming the age,
growth and productivity of both exploited and unexploited aquatic organisms. Otolith chemistry has
become a useful tool for addressing stock mixing questions and reconstructing temperature history.
In addition, our lab plays a central role in research and stock assessment of the major shark species
37
in Canada, with special emphasis on the use of satellite tags for quantifying discard mortality and
trans-boundary migrations.
Professor C. Scott Baker - Oregon State University, USA
There have been tremendous advances in both the technology and the methodology for studies of
marine mammals in recent years. Members of the Marine Mammal Institute represent expertise in
many of these technologies, including genomics, telemetry, Eco informatics, ecophysiology and
bioacoustics. With these technological tools, we are investigating the molecular taxonomy, genetic
diversity, population structure, population dynamics, spatial ecology, foraging ecology and habitat
use of cetaceans and pinnipeds around the world. Our studies address the conservation of
endangered species and the mitigation of human impact, as well as the role of recovering
populations in the marine ecosystem. As examples with potential relevance to the Falkland Islands, I
will review two studies from my own laboratory, representing different methodologies and scales of
time and space. First, I will describe the use of the remote biopsy dart and DNA profiling to confirm
subspecies identity and estimate the local abundance of New Zealand’s endemic Hector’s and Maui’s
dolphins, close relatives of the Commerson’s dolphin. Results are helping to establish priorities for
protection of both subspecies. Second, I will describe the use of ‘ancient DNA’ recovered from
discarded bones of the South Georgia whaling station to confirm species composition of the
historical catches and estimate the genetic diversity of blue, fin and sei whales prior to the decline of
these once abundant species. Results are helping to understand the impact of past exploitation and
the apparent variability in spatial recovery of some populations of great whales since protection.
Hon Mike Summers – Member of Legislative Assembly, Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are a small country the size of Connecticut and Jamaica, and twice the size of
Cape Breton Island, but with a population of approximately 3,000 people. The community is diverse
with people from over 60 nations living in the Islands. The heart of the community lies in the families
who can trace their heritage back through nine generations in the Islands. There is a fascinating and
abundant range of wildlife and plant life in the Falkland Islands, found in the many areas of
unspoiled, natural landscape. Sustainable development, conservation and the protection of the
environment for future generations are central considerations to future development of the Falkland
Islands, and this commitment is laid out in The Islands Plan. The Falklands has a strong economy
(GDP is around £190m per annum), primarily based on fishing (35%), tourism (10%) and agriculture
(5%); and have been economically self-sufficient since 1990, except for the cost of defence. It is
hoped that a new hydrocarbons exploration programme will bring additional activity. The new
Constitution which was put in place in 2009 confirms the Falklands post-colonial status. The
Falklands has a small legislature of 8 independent members from two constituencies, elected for a 4
year fixed term and the Islands enjoy full internal self-government except for foreign affairs and
defence. The Governor is appointed by the UK Foreign Office and is the representative in the Islands
of HM The Queen. In this presentation, the Hon MLA Mike Summers will expand upon this brief
introduction to the Islands, providing an insight and overview to the Falkland Islands environment,
economy and society.
38
Dr David Blockley – SAERI, Falkland Islands
With the discovery of rich oil fields around the Falkland Islands there is the potential for a substantial
offshore hydrocarbon industry to develop. The Gap Project is collating, creating and analysing data
needed to underpin strategies to better inform and monitor potential impacts of the hydrocarbon
industry on the marine environment. Priority actions identified include the need to make use of
existing data through an expert-led assessment process, and simultaneously to fill the highest
priority data gaps. Priority gaps identified include those related to marine higher predators (in
particular penguins and seals, which are considered to be amongst the most susceptible of these
groups to oil spill contamination), the benthic environment, pelagic fisheries and prevailing
oceanographic conditions. The two-year project began in mid-2014 and will ultimately result in
aiding the development of a 5-10 year strategy for minimising or mitigating potential impacts on the
marine environment from the hydrocarbon industry. It will also develop protocols of how to fill
other priority data gaps identified during the assessment process. The project is being led by the
South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) and jointly funded by the Falkland Islands
Government and the Falkland Islands Petroleum Licensees Association. The project has a strong
collaborative aspect and the project team will work closely with national and international partners
and experts, the Falkland Islands community, government and industry to bring the data together
for coordinated analyses and interpretation.
Dr Amélie Augé – SAERI, Falkland Islands
Spatial ecology investigates spatial patterns of wildlife and habitat distribution and their
relationships with bio-physical processes. Understanding species distribution and how animals use
their habitat are precursors to spatial management of the coastal and marine environments. Spatial
ecology is consequently a fundamental pillar for managing interactions between human activities
and wildlife. Spatial data and Geographic Information System are keystones of spatial ecology along
with many field and remote sensing methods to obtain data. Through three examples of ongoing
projects, I will show how I apply spatial ecology for coastal and marine management. First, a local
scale, single-species example is used to illustrate the use of satellite tracking, GPS surveys and
remote sensing to select sites for management of recolonising New Zealand sea lions. Second, a
regional scale, ecosystem-based example depicts the use of a coupled scenario planning and
Bayesian network approach to understand and map cumulative impacts of coastal development on
some of the Great Barrier Reef species to help with sustainable coastal planning. The third example
is a recently started project to initiate Marine Spatial Planning around the Falkland Islands. Spatial
data mining and gathering is the first step because understanding distribution of wildlife and human
activities around the Falkland Islands is essential to identify the most ecologically important sites and
areas at risk from anthropogenic impacts. Data gaps currently identified as priorities for the Falkland
Islands are benthic habitat mapping, near-shore and offshore cetacean habitat use, and distribution
of biota in intertidal zone. These should be research priorities for management.
39
Mr John Barton – Department of Natural Resources, Falkland Islands
The fisheries sector has been the main contributor to the Falkland Islands economy for almost 30
years. The fishery is not big in world terms but is a significant producer in terms of global squid
supply. The Falklands has successfully met many challenges in fisheries management. Approaches to
fisheries science, fisheries protection and licensing have been developed to deliver a sustainable
fishery in a small island territory. Conservation measures have been developed for commercial fish
stocks and also to minimise the impact of the fishery on seabird populations. The growth of the local
fishery sector has required substantial review of policy and legislation culminating in the
introduction of a fishing rights system in 2005. This is a flexible Individual Transferable Quota system
which allows fisheries to be defined and controlled in terms of total allowable catch or total
allowable effort. The Falklands experienced a significant period of constructive engagement on
shared fisheries conservation issues with Argentina from 1990 to 2005. The current lack of regional
cooperation or any development of a regional fisheries management organisation remains one of
the major threats to successful management of Southwest Atlantic marine resources.
Dr Alexander Arkhipkin - Department of Natural Resources, Falkland
Islands
The Scientific Fisheries section’s primary mission is to provide scientific advice to achieve maximum
sustainable yield from fish and squid stocks in the Falkland and adjacent waters by analysing
fisheries and biological data and producing stock assessments of commercial fisheries resources.
There is a team of 17 people grouped into four main subsections (scientific observers, data
management, stock assessment and fisheries studies) working on various subjects within the
Scientific Section. Biological and ecological data are collected during research cruises on-board
chartered commercial trawler ‘Castelo’, as well as by the scientific observers on-board fishing
vessels. Key drivers of the scientific section are: a) stock assessment of main commercial marine
resources and licensing advice; b) biological and ecological studies of main fishery stocks; c) studies
of the environment (oceanography) and its potential impact on commercial stocks and ecosystems;
and d) seabird and whale mitigation during fishing activities.
Ms Sarah Crofts – Falklands Conservation, Falkland Islands
Falklands Conservation is a non-governmental organisation working to protect all the wildlife in the
Falkland Islands for future generations. It undertakes practical conservation projects, surveys and
scientific studies, conducts annual monitoring of seabird populations, rehabilitates and rescues oiled
wildlife, publishes guides and information on many aspects of the Falkland Islands environment, and
involves islanders of all ages in its activities, including running a conservation group for children. The
organisation has a public membership base both in the Islands and overseas and conducts
fundraising campaigns to help promote practical conservation work. This presentation will provide
an overview and introduction to Falklands Conservation and the work which it undertakes.
40
Ms Sarah Crofts – Science in Falklands Conservation
As part of its role in protecting the wildlife of the Falkland Islands, Falklands Conservation carries out
a range of monitoring, scientific and practical projects to improve knowledge on the conservation
and management of key habitats and species. This presentation will provide an overview of some of
the past and current research projects as well as the future ambitions of Falklands Conservation.
Mr Rodrigo Corderio – Department of Mineral Resources, Falkland Islands
FIG’s Department of Mineral Resources acts as licensing body and regulator for the hydrocarbons
industry in the Falkland Islands. The talk will briefly outline the work of the Department and the
existing regulatory regime, before focussing on ongoing work to enact a range of hydrocarbon-
specific environmental legislation. The new environmental legislation aims to cover a number of
gaps in existing regulations, as well as implementing post-Macondo regulatory best-practice and
reflecting new regulations being implemented by the European Union’s Safety Directive. Finally, the
talk will discuss some of the longer-term challenges facing regulation of the offshore hydrocarbons
industry.
Mr Nick Rendell – Department of Environmental Planning, Falkland Islands
The Environmental Planning Department has a key role to perform in relation to the implementation
of the Falkland Islands Biodiversity Strategy 2008 – 2018, in conjunction with Falklands Conservation
and other bodies and individuals based both on the Islands and overseas.
We are responsible for the protection of certain birds, animals, plants and freshwater fish and to
issue licences for scientific research, the collection of penguin eggs and for the shooting of birds of
prey under the Conservation of Wildlife and Nature Ordinance 1999. We also manage Government
land that is designated as National Nature Reserves.
In addition, we are responsible for meeting international obligations, including:
The Environmental Charter – signed by the Government and the UK Government under
which FIG is committed to producing and implementing a Biodiversity Strategy; signing up to
the Convention on Biological Diversity and the implementation of Environment Impact
Assessment Regulations;
The Convention on Migratory Species and its daughter agreement, the Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatross and Petrels (ACAP);
Kyoto Agreement (to meet emissions reduction targets of all greenhouse gases);
Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);
and
The Ramsar Convention for the protection of wetlands.
As part of the Environmental Mainstreaming Group we have facilitated the ongoing discussions
about the Convention on Biological Diversity, and more recently in relation to waste management,
which has led to the production of the Waste Management Action Plan. This group has also had
initial discussion about a potential Energy Strategy.
41
We assist the Minerals Department in assessing Environmental Impact Assessments for off-shore oil
and gas related development (DLO5). On-shore Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations
to inform the planning process are in preparation. Considerable work has gone into the review of the
two EIAs carried out for the Noble and PMO exploration drilling. It is understood that the PMO
development EIA will be submitted in 15/16.
The Department also carries out many other tasks including managing Gypsy Cove (the most visited
tourist destination outside Stanley); monitoring pollution incidents which affect the environment;
coordinating control of invasive species and liaising with and providing advice to visiting researchers.
Dr Martin Collins – Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich
Islands, Falkland Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a UK Overseas Territory. South Georgia is 800 miles
SE of the Falkland Islands, with the South Sandwich Islands comprising a chain of eleven volcanic
islands to the SE of South Georgia. There are no permanent residents in the Territory but the British
Antarctic Survey (BAS) operates two bases on South Georgia. The base at King Edward Point (KEP) is
operated under contract to GSGSSI and the FCO and is staffed by eight BAS personnel, plus two
GSGSSI Officers. The second BAS base at Bird Island monitors marine mammal and seabird
populations. The South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited. GSGSSI is financially self-sufficient, with
annual revenue of around £5 million, which is derived primarily from fishing licences, tourist landing
fees and sale of stamps. Revenue is spent on fisheries research and protection, environmental
management and general administration. Science, particularly environmental science, underpins
GSGSSI’s management of the territory.
Dr Katherine Ross – Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich
Islands, Falkland Islands
The waters around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are among the most productive in
the Southern Ocean, supporting a tremendous abundance and diversity of marine wildlife. Carefully
regulated sustainable fisheries target toothfish (Dissostichus spp.), icefish (Champsocephalus
gunnari) and krill (Euphausia superba). South Georgia icefish (in part) and toothfish fisheries are
certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) as is a major component of the krill
fishery. In 2012 the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA) was
declared. Within the MPA a suite of seasonal and spatial management measures (including no-take
zones) provide refuges for fish, protect benthos and juvenile fish and prevent competition between
fisheries and land-based foragers.
Fisheries management is underpinned by rigorous fishery science carried out within the CCAMLR
(Commission of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) framework. Scientific
observers based on fishing boats and research surveys provide data for assessment of: target stocks,
by-catch species, and potential ecosystem impacts. Additional research projects are also supported
annually to increase standards and knowledge across the fishery.
This talk will briefly introduce South Georgia Fisheries and provide examples of current fisheries
science.
42
Dr Victoria Peck – British Antarctic Survey, UK and Falkland Islands
Although the Southern Ocean has several islands of comparative size, South Georgia is arguably the
most interesting scientifically, presenting opportunities to address numerous priority science
questions as identified by the SCAR Horizon Scan 2014.
Positioned between the Polar and Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Fronts, South Georgia’s climate
and oceanography is controlled by the Southern Westerly wind-driven Antarctic Circumpolar Current
(ACC). Nutrients entrained within the ACC as it passes over the South Georgia shelf fuel immense
phytoplankton blooms downstream of the island, creating the largest seasonal sink of atmospheric
CO2 in the Southern Ocean. These blooms also support the highest abundances of krill in the
Southern Ocean which in turn sustain one of the largest and most diverse ecosystems within the
Southern Ocean. Endemic and range-edge species dominating the marine fauna on the South
Georgia shelf are at the limit of their thermal tolerance. With near-surface waters around South
Georgia being some of the fastest warming on Earth, climate change poses a significant threat to this
biodiversity hotspot.
Records of past atmospheric and oceanographic changes stored in terrestrial, ice and marine
archives on and around South Georgia will improve our understanding of Southern Westerly and
frontal zone variability under different climate states and enable better prediction of future
scenarios within a warming world. Monitoring the response and processes associated with warmer
waters interacting with South Georgia’s tidewater glaciers would benefit model predictions of sea
level rise while also providing a natural experiment on ecosystem response to the synergistic effect
of warming and freshening. In the deep ocean, monitoring Antarctic Bottom Waters flowing north
through the Georgia Basin would contribute to our understanding of how Weddell Sea Deep Water
formation is changing. Furthermore, situated within the dynamic South Atlantic Geomagnetic
Anomaly, the remote island of South Georgia provides a key location within a network of
observatories monitoring space weather.
With these and many other wide ranging scientific opportunities inherent to South Georgia we are
assessing the international demand for scientists to work on and around South Georgia and
investigating what could be done to make South Georgia more accessible to scientists.
43
Achievements and next steps
44
The symposium was a resounding success and did the job it was supposed to do. As Dr Steve
Campana put it “We were seduced!”. The only real way to appreciate an environment is to immerse
yourself in it, and we did this with the delegates so they could appreciate the potential for research
in the Falkland Islands. Unfortunately, there were neither the resources nor the time for trips further
afield like South Georgia and the other South Atlantic Territories but a taster in the Falkland Islands
was all they needed. The presentations from local scientists provided a great background to the
scientific work being conducted in the region and indeed presentations from our visitors provided us
with an insight of what could be done given further facilities, resources and collaboration. As
mentioned earlier, there is some great science that is produced by the Falkland Islands but we want
to diversify and build upon it. The workshop sessions explored this further and allowed us to explore
‘baseline funding opportunities’ for some of the potential work we had discussed. One of the
greatest achievements was that all of the delegates, local and overseas, made strong connections,
friendships and potential research partners.
Taking this forward was always going to be a challenge especially as we all head back to the various
corners of the Americas. However, there is a great deal of enthusiasm about potential projects and
with effort the momentum should be sustained. Indeed a number of project ideas have progressed
to application stages and a letter of intent for a ‘consortium’ grant (NSFGEO-NERC: South Atlantic
Climate Futures) has been submitted and we have been given the green light to NSF’s Biological
Oceanography Program. A number of others are also in concept phase. We hope to report on the
progress of projects and collaborations at the anniversary of the Symposium on SAERI media and via
e-mail to the delegates.
Let’s keep up the momentum!
Dr Paul Brickle
Director, SAERI.
45
Field Trips
46
By Maria Taylor
It was a slightly grey morning as all the delegates gathered in the Malvina Hotel carpark, preparing to
embark on the epic journey from Stanley to Volunteer Point, located on the North-east coast of East
Falkland. It was the international delegates first full day in the Falklands and it was decided this
would be the ideal way of introducing them to this unique place. The background knowledge of the
Falklands for many people that come here is often vague, so this trip was also to serve as a means of
exhibiting a small proportion of what the Falkland Islands have to offer in terms of its environment.
Despite the relatively short distance to be
travelled (approximately 80 km), as the
bird flies only 24 km, it is on average a 3
hour drive. This is mostly due to the fact
that at a certain point the road stops and
all vehicles have to continue off-road
through the rough Falklands peat land
and bogs. As the land rovers proceeded
off-road, it was amusing to observe that
they looked very much like a herd of
animals, with one scouting ahead for the
best path while behind a few rebels
sometimes decided they knew better and
opted for a different route. They are
certainly the kings of the Falklands bogs,
as on the way out no one got stuck.
On arrival, the delegates
were greeted by the heads of
many Magellanic penguins
(Spheniscus magellanicus)
peeking out of burrows or
lying right next to the track. It
is one of three species of
penguins that can be found
breeding in this area, along
with the king penguin
(Aptenodytes patagonicus)
and the gentoo penguin
(Pygoscelis papua). One
spectacle that was met with
much amusement by our visitors was that of the sheep casually grazing amongst the penguins. The
‘out-of-place’ nature of the sheep highlighted just how much this seemingly untouched landscape
Sheep amongst the Gentoos! (Photo Credit Dr Steve
Campana)
King penguins adding a splash of colour on quite a grey day (Photo credit Dr
Steve Campana)
47
has been influenced by humans. Each species had their own charismatic nature and continued about
their business quite indifferent to us fascinated humans. However, as many of the party found out, if
you sat down a short distance from the colonies the penguins tended to neglect the 6m distance rule
and were quite curious walking boldly up close to you. As well as the regular groups of penguins
marching up and down the beach to the sea along their highways, there was also a small elephant
seal pup (Mirounga leonine) lying on the beach, admittedly looking slightly the worse for wear.
Despite the poor Falklands weather (in which sporadic rain sent some people scurrying for the
warmth and shelter of a small hut with a gas fire), there was ample opportunity to observe the
wildlife and the landscape we were in. One problem that is often encountered when conducting
research in a relatively unknown place is understanding the practicalities and limitations of carrying
it out on the ground. This trip perfectly highlighted these difficulties for our delegates, from the
extremely changeable weather (from hail to sunshine in 15 minutes) to the sheer effort and skills
required to reach some locations where abundant wildlife can be found.
After hours of indulging in the company of these feathery companions, we all embarked once again
on the less-than comfortable drive back to the road (with some of us considerably more damp than
others!). Unfortunately the rain that had been sporadically falling during our time at Volunteer Point
had softened the ground somewhat. This led to three of our eight land rovers getting ‘bogged’ (stuck
in soft ground) on the voyage from the colonies back to the road. This gave a true Falklands off-
roading experience; with one delegate taking the opportunity to gather up a few more samples of
moss (we all know who that was!).
Right to left: Prof Paulo Câmara, Dr Lindsey Chura, Dr Kate Sherren, Dr Carlos
Cardenas, Prof Scott Baker, Dr César Pérez-Tejada, Dr Carlos Andrade Amaya and Dr
Andrew Howley (Photo credit Dr Megan Tierney)
48
Having this trip into Camp (as
anything outside of the town of
Stanley is called) before the official
start of the symposium proved to be
invaluable in demonstrating exactly
the difficulties in site access and the
resources needed to move around
the Falklands. It showed the practical
side of implementing project ideas in
the field, whilst also showcasing the
possibilities for new challenges and
research, and proved invaluable for
stimulating ideas. Some of the
proposed projects that were inspired
by this trip included coring the guano
around the penguin colonies to study
the microbial life and the impact of
grazing on recovery of plant species.
by Maria Taylor
With a slightly sunnier start to the
day than the previous venture into
the great wilds of the Falklands, it
was with much optimism that the
group set off. About an hour’s drive
later, over some astonishingly dry
track (the author had found herself
‘bogged’ in a land rover here a mere
few weeks previously), the party
arrived at Whale Point. We were
immediately presented with the sight
of six elephant seals (Mirounga
leonine), who had hauled themselves
up into the sunshine like many
gigantic brown slugs and moved accordingly, when they moved at all. Their clear indifference to our
presence emphasised just how little a threat they perceived us to be, which was understandable
considering the few predators they do have include orcas and large shark species – how much threat
could a bunch of scientists pose?
One of the more impressive bogging instances (Photo credit
Maria Taylor)
Walking among the elephant seals who were completely unfazed by
our presence (Photo credit Dr Kate Sherren)
49
Despite the sunshine, the wind
persisted in trying to blow us away. All
along the shore there were elephant
seals wallowing on rotting kelp, which
in the warm sun was not the most
pleasant of smells! As the group
progressed around the coastline, we
became increasingly spread out as each
person found something of interest to
hold their attention, from mosses to
puddles of water. Dr Edgcomb collected
water from an elephant seal wallow to
look at it under a microscope later
(which, she confessed, was the highlight
of her trip!).
We were heading along the coast for the wreck of the Saint Mary, a 1,940 tonne vessel that was
wrecked during her maiden voyage in August of 1981. She was carrying a mixed general cargo and it
used to be common to find children’s toys along the shore in the area. However, on our arrival at the
shipwreck, it appeared that the message that we would meet the 4x4s there wasn’t heard by
everyone (the elephant seals stole most of the attention at the time!). So a number of our party,
who had been trailing slightly, had headed back towards where the vehicles should have been
parked, only to be greeted by their absence. Eventually, everyone was rounded up and we
proceeded from the shipwreck to Whale Cove.
This area has been the site of multiple mass
stranding of cetaceans over the years, with
a large number of skeletons still largely
intact scattered across the beach. Down the
one end of the beach was a large number of
very old sperm whale (Physeter
microcephalus) bones, while further up the
beach Prof. Steve Baker managed to remove
a piece of flesh from the skull of a false killer
whale (Pseudorca crassidens) carcass, one of
the 22 whales that had stranded here in
2013. Due to the isolated nature of large
stretches of the Falklands coast, it has been
the case in the past where large stranding
incidents have gone unnoticed until
someone stumbled across them by chance.
This was the case in 2011 when a pod of
400 pilot whales (Globicephala melas) were
stranded on Speedwell Island, south of
East Falkland, but were only discovered
An elephant seal enjoying the sunshine (Photo credit Maria
Taylor)
Prof Scott Baker removing some flesh from the skull of a
false killer whale carcass (Photo credit Dr Kate Sherren)
50
around 10 days after the incident. Again, this highlighted just how remote and unmonitored much of
the Falklands is, that such usually noticeable events can go undetected. Whilst standing on the
beach, a Commerson’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) was spotted just offshore in the
shallows, the abundance and movements of this species around the Falklands is relatively unknown,
as is the case for many of the cetacean species found here.
Overall, the trip again emphasised both the diversity of life that is found here alongside the
logistical complications of accessing and monitoring populations. This trip also helped influence
another proposed projects, aiming to look into assess ing the cetacean populations around the
Falklands to increase our baseline data on these species.
By Amélie Augé
On the Wednesday evening after an early dinner at the Malvina House Hotel, international delegates
met some local delegates and myself from SAERI at the public jetty in Stanley. We boarded two
launches. The weather was beautiful, perfect for an evening of boating and discovering some of the
Falklands’ wildlife. The blue sky was striped with only a few long white clouds and the wind was low.
The first stop was not long to come. Yorke Bay is situated in Port William, close to the Narrows that
leads into Stanley Harbour. There, we saw a number of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) and
magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) flashing in the water as they swam past the boats to
go and land on the white sandy beach.
The bones of the false killer whales lie scattered across the beach still intact (Photo credit Maria Taylor)
51
The trip continued east through Port William in a beautiful sunset atmosphere. As soon as we turned
to port, out to sea, and headed north along the coast, large numbers of flying seabirds of all sizes
started appearing. Amongst them were the magnificent black-browed albatross (Thalassarche
melanophrys) accompanied by a range of petrels, prions and terns. However, we were there for a
particular bird, and it would have been difficult to miss it! Hundreds of thousands of sooty
shearwaters (Puffinus griseus), or “mutton birds”, raft around their main breeding site in the
Falkland Islands, Kidney Island, each evening in summer.
Amazement of this natural phenomenon could be read on each of the faces on board. One can
witness this event many times without losing that first feeling of astonishment. The boats slowly
made their way around a carpet of shearwaters covering the ocean while massive groups of the
birds lifted from the water in the direction of their island where their chicks were waiting to be fed,
safe and warm in their burrows. The grandiose sunset with bright orange and red colours only made
this moment more magical.
We were on the cliffy eastern side of Kidney Island where we had a glimpse of the rockhopper
penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome) colony on the cliff. However, the trip was not over; the boats led us
further into Berkeley Sound where suddenly the highly anticipated call “blow!” rang like a bell that
woke a few people who, otherwise, would have started an early night. By then, the sea was almost
flat as the wind had dropped. This meant we could hear the blows of the whales. Everyone was on
Watching the shearwaters rafting in the sunset (Photo credit
Dr Amélie Augé)
52
the look-out while around 20 sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) came up around the boats to
disappear again as fast as they appeared.
While the light slowly
diminished, the boats turned
once more towards Kidney
Island where we moored in a
small bay next to shore until
darkness closed on us. There,
we watched the shearwaters
coming to land. While Dr Grant
Munro was giving us a good
introduction to shearwaters
and the importance of tussac
islands, such as Kidney Island,
for the wildlife of the Falklands,
the sky darkened because of
the number of birds flying
above us. The fact that none of
us got a ‘present’ from the sky is
still a wonder. In the fading light,
we saw the graceful silhouette of a South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) swimming amongst
the kelp and alongside the boat. Once darkness was almost there, we headed back home under a
bright sky full of stars and slowly made up the lonely lights of Stanley in the horizon, lonely in the
grand wilderness of the Falklands. That evening illustrated the richness of the wildlife of the islands
and opportunities to conduct research to understand and manage it, all in three unforgettable
hours.
Hundreds of thousands of shearwaters carpet the sea off Kidney
Island (Photo credit: Dr Amélie Augé)
Shearwater flying to Kidney Island in the background, where their
chicks await in their burrows (Photo credit: Dr Amélie Augé)
53
Blogs
54
By Kate Sherren, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Our Land Rovers lumbered slowly along the heathland like a convoy of awkward insects. We were
heading to the penguin colony at Volunteer Point on the eve of the Falkland Islands Science
Symposium. Recent rains had turned the track – rough at best – into a sodden mess. As one and
then another of our eight vehicles ran into trouble, the others would fan out to avoid the same fate,
resembling ants that have lost their pheromone track. All in all it was a six-hour round trip through
rain and hail, and three vehicles had to be pulled out of precarious positions. The jarring drive made
my ears ring well into the night. I remarked afterward that it was about the hardest place I’d ever
tried to get to. This was greeted with surprise by my fellow delegates. “But I’m a social scientist, so
you have to take that in context,” I said. My field destinations can usually be reached in a hatchback.
Despite my discomfort, I was more than glad we had made the effort to reach the Point. Three
species of penguin, each with its own personality, charmed us for hours.
Sheep wandered among the
penguins at times, reminding us
that Volunteer Point was part of
a working farm. Several of the
agricultural experts I met later in
the week felt that the penguins
played an important role in
keeping farms viable. The
ranching style of farming
traditionally used in the Falkland
Islands has resulted in substantial
vegetation change. Most of the
giant tussac grass that once
fringed the islands is gone.
Patches of it persist in ungrazed
outer islands and fenced minefields left over from the Falklands War. In its place are coastal
paddocks that are deemed to have the best grasses for grazing, and hence are used for lambing. The
health of these fields is in large part thanks to penguin poop. Guano rich in fish remnants returns
critical nutrients to the soil, and sheep help distribute it.
I have been one of the Pan-American delegates to this Symposium, representing the social sciences.
My research often examines how people respond to local landscapes and how that affects resource
decisions. My inspiration comes from talking to local people in places experiencing or facing change.
This week I have spoken to leaders of legislation, policy and industry; cabbies and tour operators;
long-time Islanders and members of a diverse network of contract workers with a cacophony of
Commonwealth accents. These conversations have suggested many exciting research opportunities.
Like Volunteer Point, it takes some effort to get to the Falkland Islands. But the destination – and its
future – are worth it.
Kate and the Kings (Photo Credit Dr Carlos Andrade)
55
By Steve Campana, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Canada
I was seduced! And it wasn’t just me. The
entire scientific delegation to the Falklands
was seduced at one time or another while
visiting. No – it wasn’t because of the open
and charming people who lived here and
welcomed us at every event. Nor was it
because of the superb meals (and wine!) with
which we were plied at every dinner. It
wasn’t even because of the field trips to
photograph penguins, or seals, or collect
fossils, in wonderful outdoor settings.
Rather, this was a totally non-subtle, full-on,
in your face seduction that took advantage of
a scientist’s greatest weakness. I’m talking of
course about our unstoppable excitement
when faced with new scientific challenges and
possibilities. So the decision by SAERI, the Falkland Islands and the British government to fly us all
down here to woo us with scientific seductions was a brilliant move. I suspect that all of the
scientists in the delegation are already fully
engaged in other projects back home and in
other countries. So few of us expected to take
on any new projects when we accepted the
invitation to come to the Falklands; we just
couldn’t resist the invitation to see a new part
of the world. But once here, and once
confronted with new scientific possibilities,
we were hooked. Most of us are now
committed to collaborate with SAERI on
various projects. Scientists are so naïve!
Steve amongst the two of the species of penguins
(Gentoo and Kings) that were wandering up and down
the beach at Volunteer Point
One of the fossils found during the field trip to
Horseshoe Bay
56
I do scientific research on fish and shark
populations in Canada and Iceland, where
the environmental conditions are very
similar to those in the Falklands. So to a
Canadian scientist, it is fascinating to see
how life has evolved under Canadian
temperatures in a location on the other
side of the world. One thing that piqued
my interest was the occasional capture of
porbeagle sharks in the waters around the
Falklands. Porbeagle sharks, which are a
smaller relative of the great white shark,
are a common fishing target in the waters
off of eastern Canada, where the
conditions are very similar to those here.
So why aren’t there more porbeagles here? After asking around, I found out that none of the
fishermen here use the pelagic longline gear and large hooks that would be suited for catching
porbeagles. So it could be that porbeagles are actually quite common in Falkland waters. And if so, I
wonder if they behave, live and grow in the same way that those in the North Atlantic do. How
interesting! As I said earlier, I’ve been seduced!
By Virginia Edgcomb, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
Our Pan-American Science Delegation visit to the Falkland Islands is over now, but I leave with many
incredible vistas imprinted on my mind, a new cohort of scientific colleagues and potential
collaborators, and many ideas about scientific research opportunities in the area. The people we
met in town, including business and local government officials were so friendly and welcoming, and
were universally concerned about protecting and managing their resources and unique ecosystems
in a sustainable fashion. It was refreshing to see a society that is forward thinking on this theme,
especially given the relatively pristine condition of the environment there. Sadly, people the world
over frequently only start to pay attention when they witness deterioration or experience personal
impacts. Scientists at the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute are already conducting
excellent research on a wide variety of very important topics to the area. Yet there are many
opportunities for collaborative research that can pull in complementary expertise to bear on new
questions. Researchers at my home institution, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution include
many who are engaged in studies of physical, chemical and biological oceanography, including
fisheries, and of impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems worldwide. Climate change is
significantly impacting our polar regions, and these changes have impacts that propagate to
subpolar regions in the form of altered weather, ocean currents, temperature, etc. As a marine
microbiologist I am particularly keen to collaborate with scientists at SAERI to collect data on impacts
of these alterations to major biogeochemical cycles where microorganisms have center stage. Any
major shifts in microbial communities and/or processes carried out by these communities can affect
the many important fisheries in the region of the Falklands. We envision a very international
Porbeagle sharks, an exciting research opportunity for
Steve on his next visit to the Falkland Islands
57
collaborative study of atmospheric and
marine processes involving SAERI, the
British Antarctic Survey, and several US
and South American institutions.
Interspersed among the many intense
and stimulating scientific discussions
this past week were amazing field trips
to see some of the local treasures;
including Elephant Seals, nesting
Shearwaters by the gazillions, and of
course, penguins. I was enthralled by
the penguins, particularly a small
cluster of King Penguins who
approached me on a beach as I sat still.
It was clearly a mutual inspection, the
outcome of which was universal
agreement that clearly, they were better dressed. Another highlight for me was gazing through the
microscope at interesting protozoa zipping around in a water sample I collected from an Elephant
Seal wallow. The water was the color and consistency of soy sauce (probably a cocktail of peat,
seawater and Elephant Seal feces). A microbiologist is easily amused.
Thank you to all the folks who made this past week possible. Now we all need to work hard to get
funding for our research ideas!
By Andrew Howley, National Geographic Society, first appeared on the
Explorers Journal blog on January 20, 2015 and reprinted with permission.
Ginny meets some of the locals at Volunteer Point (Photo
credit Dr Virginia Edgcomb)
No one attending the #FalklandSci symposium expected the locals to be so well dressed.
(Photo by Andrew Howley)
58
The world’s northernmost colony of king penguins has something to
celebrate this week, as Tuesday marks Penguin Awareness Day and
these well-dressed seabirds play host to an international group of
scientists gathered to discuss the Falkland Islands’s rich potential for
new research.
To welcome their guests, including National Geographic grantees Scott
Baker and Steve Campana, the birds went wild with squawking,
flapping, yodeling, and even sizeable hops that could almost pass for
flying. (OK, as wild animals, they do all these things regardless of the
presence of any humans.)
Hailing from countries up and down the Americas, these experts in life on land and sea, geology,
oceanography, and information systems are taking part in the Falkland Islands Science Symposium,
investigating opportunities for collaboration between themselves, the South Atlantic Environmental
Research Institute (SAERI), and other groups in the region.
Before the talks began though, the delegates piled into Land Rovers and headed out from the main
town of Stanley up to Volunteer Point, to see the penguins.
That About Penguins of Which You Should Be Aware
The Falkland Islands are home to breeding colonies of five species of penguin. At our destination,
there were three: king, gentoo, and Magellanic.
The Magellanic couples would leave one parent with the chicks in a small burrow dug into the sand
on the beach, while the other headed for the waves to pick up some fish. Upon returning, the adults
would sing out in unison a song that sounded like a kid blowing on a New Year’s noisemaker. Then
they’d pause, maybe dip their heads, and start up with verse two.
On the journey to see the penguin colonies at Volunteer Point, this is about as major as a road gets. On
the hillsides, rocks, broken and carried by nature’s icy hands, form the Falklands’ characteristic countless
“stone runs.” (Photo by Andrew Howley)
59
This strange sound leads some to call them “jackass
penguins,” though that is a term specifically for a similar
but distinct African species. One noticeable difference:
African penguins have one black stripe on their necks,
Magellanics have two (as seen in the figure at right).
The kings mostly stood around like royalty. They are
slightly smaller than their imperial cousins, but they have
larger patches of golden feathers on their heads and necks,
which contrast nicely against their blue-steel colored
coats, giving them an elegant appearance among the rest
of the black and white suits.
While small groups of kings waddled back and forth to the
water or off to find a place to chill out far from the crowd,
hundreds of individuals sat huddled in a mass on a dirt
section by the hills, cradling eggs on their feet and
squawking at any wanderer who passed by putting itself
on display. Varying states of molting made some young
kings appear to have elaborate or particularly Mr. T-like
hairdos.
The most entertaining of all though were the gentoo penguins. Their young were still covered in
down and looked like plush dolls positioned on the hills to ensure that visitors develop an
irrepressible desire to buy penguin souvenirs. Their bright white eyebrows and orange-sherbert feet
don’t hurt either.
This young gentoo may look like a tough chick but really she was just waiting for her parents to return
and regurgitate her next meal. (Photo by Andrew Howley)
60
They also put on the best show. Those gentoo parents returning from the sea to healthy, growing
chicks were instantly bombarded by a flurry of flapping and screaming. Once they’d bent down their
heads, opened wide, and regurgitated fish into the gaping mouths of their offspring, they would try
to wrap up and move along. The chicks would chase them down till they relented and served up
seconds of the day’s catch. This repeating cycle meant that at any given moment, you could see
several hilarious games of tag being carried out over the hills.
After a few hours of observations of the penguins, the team headed back to town, where locals
knew well that Penguin Awareness Day was on the horizon (yes, they really did). An appreciation of
the penguins’ cuteness was fairly unanimous, as was respect for the adaptability of these seabirds.
On island groups like this, diversity and adaptability are useful for penguins, farmers, and scientists
alike. As researchers develop ideas for new projects and collaboration at the
#FalklandSci symposium, a good appreciation of the virtues of penguinhood could help guide them
to success.
Among thousands of penguins of three different species (and two dozen or so researchers from the
#FalklandSci symposium) this Magellanic penguin still managed to get away for some alone time and …
reflection. (Photo by Andrew Howley)
Alfred the Gentoo Penguin leapt, and for one brief, shining moment, all things were possible. (Photo by
Andrew Howley)
61
By Andrew Howley, National Geographic Society, first appeared on the
Explorers Journal blog on January 26, 2015 and reprinted with permission.
Paulo loves mosses. He notices
them everywhere. He thinks about
them all the time. If you ask about
them, he beams.
I get the distinct impression that
the worst afterlife he could
imagine would be to come back as
a rolling stone.
This week though, he’s in seventh
heaven. Professor Paulo Câmara of
the University of Brasilia has been
collecting mosses in the Falkland
Islands as part of the pan-American
Falklands Islands Science
Symposium lead by the UK Science
and Innovation Network and his
collection is growing steadily in size
and fame.
“Paulo,” I say one day after the meetings are over. “You must tell me about the mosses.”
Before I know it, we’re outside, on the ground, picking up a sample of a spiky little mosses and
peering at them through Paolo’s hand lens to try to discern tell-tale structures on each one. Unless
you observe them on their own small scale, trying to identify mosses is going to be like trying to
identify tree species from the window of a trans-continental flight.
We move on to the hotel, where he’s stashed all his samples in neatly labeled paper bags that are
cataloged in a spiral notebook he takes on each sampling mission.
“Mosses are everywhere,” he says, adding with a certain pride that they create the conditions that
allow many other forms of life to thrive.
Start with some bare, damp rocks. In comes a moss spore.
It makes its own food and grows, using its rhyzoid filaments to hold on to the surface of that bare
rock with incredible strength.
If anything breaks off the primitive leaves or stem, each of those can regenerate into a new plant.
A closer look: On the sidewalk or in the back country, Paulo
Câmara is ready with his hand lens to investigate mosses. (Photo
by Andrew Howley)
62
Now get outside, find some moss, and take a good close look.
You might find yourself smiling just as much as Paulo. (Photo
by Andrew Howley)
Mature male mosses produce two-
tailed sperm that, unlike almost
all flowering plant sperm, actively
swim through the damp
surroundings to fertilize the female
plants and begin the growth of
structures that will create new
spores.
Soon where there was once only
bare rock, there’s a whole dense
clump of moss, retaining up to ten
times its weight in water and
creating an environment where
other plants and animals can feed,
breed, and grow.
And this is all happening everywhere,
all the time.
And that’s at least part of why Paulo
is so passionate about mosses.
By Andrew Howley, National Geographic Society, first appeared on the
Explorers Journal blog on January 22, 2015 and reprinted with permission.
The upper part of a sperm whale skull lies on a beach among dozens of other bones
from a group that stranded long ago. (Photo by Andrew Howley)
63
In front of Christ Church Cathedral in the Falkland Islands town of Stanley rises a four-branched arch
made of the lower jaws of two blue whales. It stands as an adornment for the church, a local
curiosity and landmark, a memorial to the whaling communities of the past, and a commemoration
of the 1933 centennial of British administration of the islands. To the eyes of the researchers
attending the Falkland Islands Science Symposium this week, it’s also a reminder of the lingering
mystery and shocking vulnerability of even the largest animals in the world.
A few blocks up the hill from the arch, reassembled bones and skeletons of sperm whales and other
whales are displayed by a local metal worker who campaigned to end whaling in the islands, in part
through the creation and display of humpback-shaped signs throughout town, one of which is still on
display.
The upper part of a sperm whale skull lies on a beach among dozens of other bones
from a group that stranded long ago. (Photo by Andrew Howley)
The upper part of a sperm whale skull lies on a beach among dozens of other bones
from a group that stranded long ago. (Photo by Andrew Howley)
64
Somewhere in Stanley (Photo by Andrew Howley)
Some 35 miles from town, dozens of other bones of other sperm whales rest on a beach
where the giants stranded themselves long ago.
Moss grows on the dried-out bones of one of several sperm whales that beached in a
small cove long ago. (Photo by Andrew Howley)
65
Down the beach from the sperm whale skeletons, the skull of a false killer whale
from a pod that beached just two years ago is a reminder of how frequent and
poorly understood mass whale strandings remain. (Photo by Andrew Howley)
As months and years pass, wind, water, and animal activity help to spread bones like this false killer
whale spine far and wide, reaching well into even grassy areas up shore. (Photo by Andrew Howley)
66
While some of the bones are slowly sinking into the earth like the one above, giving a glimpse of
future paleontology in the making, others like the lower left jaw below still arc well up off the
ground. Its pointy end evidently proved an irresistible scratching post for a local sheep, a bit of
whose wool remains there—a temporary adornment to a timeless natural memorial.
All these sites have been visited by delegates from across the Americas attending the science
symposium being held in Stanley. They are meeting to discuss the rich potential for research in these
remote and beautiful islands.
At dusk that evening, on a boat to observe the countless sooty shearwaters returning to roost, water
spouts in the distance drew everyone’s attention to the presence of living whales ahead of us. To
Scott Baker of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, and a National Geographic
grantee, the whales’ large size and low but prominent dorsal fins identified them as most likely Sei
whales. Little is known or understood about these large filter feeders, so learning of their activity in
these waters, Baker is eager to begin a project to track and observe them here.
Where whalers once planned these animals’ slaughter, scientists now plan their study and
protection.
As the bones sink, and the sand blows and shifts to cover them, fossilization is partly already in process.
Someday, a future researcher could chip through sandstone and u ncover these very bones. (Photo by
Andrew Howley)
67
By Andrew Howley, National Geographic Society, first appeared on the
Explorers Journal blog on February 22, 2015 and reprinted with
permission.
Elephant seals weigh tons, are made of hundreds of trillions of individual cells, and are big enough to
spot from the small plane as you come in for a landing on the smaller islands in the Falklands.
Standing on one of these beaches, most tourists, including most of the scientists at the recent pan-
American Falkland Islands Science Symposium lead by the UK Science and Innovation Network, will
stare at these behemoths, transfixed by their arresting presence. Not Ginny Edgcomb. She looks past
the giant seals and stares at the dark brown pool in the peaty soil next to them. She gets out a small
plastic vial and dips it into the water.
Later, under a microscope at the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) lab, she
explores the world of single-celled organisms, including highly active, animal-like protozoa. In any
biology class you’ll get an introduction, but if you have any real impression of them, it likely comes
The teeth have been removed from the sockets of this lower left jaw bone. This is usually done either by
the government to prevent the illegal sale of whale ivory, or possibly by people long ago. (Photo by
Andrew Howley)
68
from reading “The Far Side” comics. “Gary Larson has done more for protozoa being recognized than
any of our textbooks,” she says.
Elephant seals weigh tons, are made of hundreds of trillions of individual cells, and are big enough to
spot from the small plane as you come in for a landing on the smaller islands in the Falklands.
Standing on one of these beaches, most tourists, including most of the scientists at the recent pan-
American Falkland Islands Science Symposium lead by the UK Science and Innovation Network, will
stare at these behemoths, transfixed by their arresting presence. Not Ginny Edgcomb. She looks past
the giant seals and stares at the dark brown pool in the peaty soil next to them. She gets out a small
plastic vial and dips it into the water.
Later, under a microscope at the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) lab, she
explores the world of single-celled organisms, including highly active, animal-like protozoa. In any
biology class you’ll get an introduction, but if you have any real impression of them, it likely comes
from reading “The Far Side” comics. “Gary Larson has done more for protozoa being recognized than
any of our textbooks,” she says.
Tiny Safari
Ginny works at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and has dedicated her life to studying the
incredible life systems of the microscopic world—a world as rich with wildlife as anywhere on the
African savannah. Lest you think that despite the diversity, the comparison isn’t fair because single-
celled blobs have no real lives or interactions, she will joyfully educate you: “There are tons of
interactions between the microorganisms in a community!”
For example, those creatures that can’t make their own food by photosynthesis often prefer certain
prey based on its size or even its species. They’ll seek out this favored prey by following chemical
Skimming the Surface: All of the microorganisms in this post were collected in the small pool in front of
these elephant seals, or in a tide pool a short walk up the beach. In such shallow areas, photosynthesis
provides the basis for life. Ginny Edgcomb likes to look further though. Deeper in the ocean, beyond the
reach of light, bathed in harsh chemicals, countless trillions of protists thrive, and keep secrets about life
that researchers like Ginny are just beginning to decode. (Photo by Andrew Howley)
69
trails, scurrying around like squirrels looking for nuts. Even the photosynthetic prey we might think
of as superficially “plant-like” may search out light using light-sensitive “eye spots” and orient
themselves with their whip-like flagella.
Intricate Interactions
It’s not just “hunt or be hunted.” Some receive essential nutrients from the chemical environments
created by others. This can be one-way or symbiotic, and can involve organisms living directly on top
of each other, or simply in the same vicinity.
It is this intricate web of dependencies that explains to Edgcomb why less than one percent of
bacteria have ever been cultivated in isolation.
Remember When You Were a Single-Celled Organism?
We too are inextricably entwined in the lives of other living things. We consider ourselves highly
independent and able to adapt to countless environments, but we simply could not survive without
the cooperation of countless single-celled organisms around us and within us.
It’s also good to remember that for one brief, shining moment, each of us lived as just a single cell as
well.
With every droplet of water, every handful of soil, and every breath of air teeming with life, any
investigation into the world of the single-celled brings new discoveries. It is in hopes of such
revelations that Ginny Edgcomb came to the Falklands, to explore this little known part of the South
Atlantic, and to team up with scientists in different fields to gain a better perspective on life at all
scales on these remote and beautiful islands.
Microcosmos: These creatures may look like distant galaxies, frozen in time in photos, but when viewing
scenes like this live, "everything was buzzing around," says Edgcomb. (Photo by Virginia P. Edgcomb)
70
Public Outreach
71
The Falkland Islands Science Symposium 2015 was the first science-based international conference
that has taken place in the Falkland Islands. As such, it was a great opportunity to promote
environmental sciences to the local community. In order to facilitacte this, a range of outreach
events were organised in Stanley and introduced the public to the renowned international
delegates.
The symposium delegates were joined by local and international media that covered various aspects
of the symposium. There were articles in the Penguin News (the local newspaper), and showcases on
the Falkland Islands Radio Station (FIRS) and the local TV network (FITV). Andrew Howley, from
National Geographic, travelled with the delegation and published a number of online articles about
the symposium and the Falkland Islands. The Uruguayan TV network, Channel 10, also sent a film
crew to record the event and produce a documentary about the event and its broader implications
for environmental research in the region. Twitter and blog posts produced by SAERI staff as well as
international delegates were also a great way of communicating the activities during the week and
gathered a great deal of public interest.
Government House hosted a large reception where approximately 70 members of the public met
with SAERI and the international and local delegates. The Governor gave a short speech on the
significance of this first science event for the country. He was delighted to see such an enthusiasm
from the international environmental scientists, eager to work in the Falkland Islands and other
South Atlantic Overesas Territories. This was mirrored by the range of discussions that took place at
the reception, along with the interviews conducted by the local media.