Moving from Tasmania, the other side of the world, was quite the journey. But it feels so great to have finally arrived. And what an amazing and wild introduction to the Falkland Islands it has been!
I was heavily jet-lagged and fatigued after my marathon 44-hour journey. Nevertheless, on my first day of being in the Falklands, Al at SAERI came and found me in town and invited me for a 20km hike through the peaks and hills on the outskirts of Stanley. It was certainly a ‘straight into the deep end’ style of introduction to the Falklands. Although looking back, it was also an apt metaphor for what my first month in the Falklands and at SAERI would be like; hitting the ground running (or fast walking in this case).
In my first few weeks of work at SAERI, we’ve managed to make an enormous amount of progress with the seal bycatch project. I’ve tapped into the wealth of fur seal and sea lion data that SAERI have collected over the past decade and have processed the GPS movement tracks and dive behaviour for over 50 seals from several colonies around the Falklands. These data are beginning to reveal important insights into where the seals are going and what habitats they’re foraging in. Excitingly, we’ve also met with project partners from the Falkland Island Fisheries Department who have provided access to years and years-worth of fisheries catch data. So, a very productive first month of data wrangling and analyses, and certainly a good sign of things to come.
But thankfully, I have also managed to step away from the wonderful world of coding and statistics to spend time around the unique wildlife the Falklands has on display. Last week I had the privilege of spending 1-week on Steeple Jason Island, a remote island in the northwest. This island boasts the largest black-browed albatross colony on the planet, as well as an abundance of gentoo, rockhopper and magellanic penguins; fur seals and sea lions; and various flying seabirds like southern giant petrels and skuas. I also can’t forget to mention the perpetually curious and cheeky straited caracaras. I was on the island to conduct fieldwork as part of Falkland Conservation’s long-term albatross monitoring program. We counted chicks at sites around the island manually and using drone aerial surveys. We also collected loads of albatross poo. Seemingly a strange task, but this can provide valuable dietary data to help inform long term monitoring of what the albatrosses are eating. Overall, it was a truly magical experience and one I will never forget.
