2008 FALKLAND ISLANDS

COASTLINE

The Falklands' coastline is enriched by a series of magnificent bluffs and numerous offshore islands and stacks. The postage stamps in this series illustrate both some of the best-known and other more obscure examples of these features. Many are seldom seen other than from the air and can only be visited by way of a long and arduous boat ride. Their very remoteness has meant that, in certain cases, they have remained almost untouched by man and free of introduced species. Such islands have retained the qualities of true wilderness remaining, as they have, virtually unchanged for thousands of years.

22p The Slipper

The Slipper lies about 2.5 kilometers to the north and west of Cape Terrible, West Point Island. It is a pristine site, being free of vermin, never having been stocked or burnt, and scarcely ever visited. The island is covered in dense but low tussac and hosts a rich variety of bird life including large numbers of the Thin-billed Prion. It rises rapidly to the southwest where the land ends abruptly in cliffs of 100 meters elevation thus giving the island its distinctive shape. The Slipper is also known as the "Gibraltar Rock".

40p Kidney Island

Situated at the southeastern end of Berkeley Sound, Kidney Island lies about a kilometer off the coast of East Falkland opposite Kidney Cove. Curiously, when viewed from the air, the island looks far more like a horse than a kidney. It is low-lying, with the highest point only 18 meters above sea level, and is clad almost entirely in mature tussac grass. The island's coastal features include cliffs, a long sand beach, boulder beaches, and rich inshore kelp beds. Livestock has never grazed kidney although tussac was cut as winter fodder for cattle and horses in Stanley up until the 1950's. It is free of introduced mammals and hosts a rich variety of 34 different species of nesting seabirds and passerines. Kidney Island is the only known breeding area for the Greater Shearwater outside of the Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island group in the South Atlantic. There is also a resident population of sea lions.

60p Stephens Bluff and Castle Rock

Stephens Bluff is a stack, which marks the southwestern extremity of the Ten Shilling Bay Island group and guards to entrance to Port Stephens. It was named for Sir Philip Stephens, who was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1795-1806. The name "Ten Shilling Bay" has more colorful origins. The bay itself lies a mile-and-a-half to the northeast of Stephens Bluff and was well known by the nineteenth century fur-sealing fraternity. It is said that rival oarsmen would place wagers on who was the finest oarsman when rowing across the mile wide stretch. On at least one occasion the prize for winning was said to have been ten shillings, quite a princely sum in those days. Also shown in the distance and to the west of the Bluff is Castle Rock. All of these features are formed from the ancient sandstone of the Port Stephens Formation, which were estimated to have been laid down around 420 million years ago. Stephens Bluff comprises less than 1 hectare and belongs privately to Mr. P.J. Robertson of Port Stephens.

100p The Colliers

During the 19th Century the name "collier" was that given to a ship engaged in the carriage of coal. When viewed from the northwest these two distinctive rocky stacks give the impression of a brace of ships under full sail crossing the Grey Channel towards New Island. This impression is further improved in summer when the higher rocks are covered in birdlime from the large number of nesting Rock Shags. Situated about a kilometer to the northeast of Table Point, Beaver Island, the Colliers rise to a height of around 80 feet and host a small, non-breeding group of fur seal.
Area less than 1 hectare and owned by the Falkland Islands Government.