|
Sealion Island
Sea Lion Island () is the largest of the Sea Lion Island Group of the Falkland Islands. It is in area. and lies southeast of Lafonia (East Falkland). It was designated a Ramsar site on 24 September 2001, and as an Important Bird Area (BirdLife International 2006). In 2017 the island was designated as a National Nature Reserve. Description Sea Lion Island is long from east to west and wide, with cliffs at the south-western point and sandy bays to the east. The highest point at is Bull Hill. East Loafers is the name of the bay on the southern shore. It also has a few ponds, including Beaver and Long Pond. Just to the south is Rum Island, a small seal colony. Other small members of the group are Brandy and Whisky Islands. The geology is mainly sandstone and mudstone, from about 250 million years ago. Some minor fossils have been found. History Sea Lion Island is the southernmost inhabited island of the Falkland Islands. Only formerly inhabited Beauchene Island is located fur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Choiseul Sound
Choiseul Sound ( ) is a stretch of sea in the Falkland Islands. It runs parallel to Eagle Passage and is between Lafonia and the north of East Falkland. Lively Island is in its mouth. At its entrance, on the northern shore, is the Bertha's Beach Important Bird Area which is also a Ramsar Convention, Ramsar site, recognising it as a wetland of international importance. It was named by Louis de Bougainville after the French Foreign Secretary, Étienne François, duc de Choiseul. The name is pronounced "Chisel" in Falkland Islands dialect.Richard Munro, ''Place Names of the Falkland Islands'', 1998, p. 18. References External links * Bodies of water of the Falkland Islands Sounds of subantarctic islands {{Falklands-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allies of World War I, Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played History of the Royal Air Force, a significant role in Military history of the United Kingdom, British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF established Air supremacy, air superiority over Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, and led the Allied strategic bombing effort. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities nee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falkland Steamer Duck
The Falkland steamer duck (''Tachyeres brachypterus'') is a species of flightless duck found on the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The steamer ducks get their name from their unconventional swimming behaviour in which they flap their wings and feet on the water in a motion reminiscent of an old paddle steamer. The Falkland steamer duck is one of only two bird species endemic (ecology), endemic to the Falkland Islands, the other being Cobb's wren. Taxonomy and systematics The Falkland steamer duck is part of the order Anseriformes and the family Anatidae, alongside ducks, geese, and swans. It is in the genus ''Tachyeres'' with the three other species of steamer ducks, all found in South America. The Falkland steamer duck is most closely related to the flying steamer duck, which can also be found in and around the Falkland Islands. It is believed that they might still be able to interbreed. A study from 2012 established that these two species are genetically indisti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waterbird
A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabirds that inhabit marine environments. Some water birds (e.g. wading birds) are more terrestrial while others (e.g. waterfowls) are more aquatic, and their adaptations will vary depending on their environment. These adaptations include webbed feet, beaks, and legs adapted to feed in the water, and the ability to dive from the surface or the air to catch prey in water. The term ''aquatic bird'' is sometimes also used in this context. A related term that has a narrower meaning is waterfowl. Some piscivorous birds of prey, such as ospreys, sea eagles, fish eagles, fish owls, and fishing owls, hunt aquatic prey but do not stay in water for long and live predominantly over dry land, and are not considered water birds. The term waterbird ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding ecological niche, niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous geological period, period, while modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. Seabirds generally live longer, Reproduction, breed later and have fewer young than other birds, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in Bird colony, colonies, varying in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual bird migration, migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International. There are over 13,000 IBAs worldwide. These sites are small enough to be entirely conserved and differ in their character, habitat or ornithological importance from the surrounding habitat. In the United States the program is administered by the National Audubon Society. Often IBAs form part of a country's existing protected area network, and so are protected under national legislation. Legal recognition and protection of IBAs that are not within existing protected areas varies within different countries. Some countries have a National IBA Conservation Strategy, whereas in others protection is completely lacking. History In 1985, following a specific request from the European Economic Community, Birdlife International dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding important sites for birds, maintaining and restoring key bird habitats, and empowering conservationists worldwide. It has a membership of more than 2.5 million people across List of BirdLife International national partner organisations, 116 country partner organizations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wild Bird Society of Japan, the National Audubon Society, and American Bird Conservancy. BirdLife International has identified 13,000 Important Bird Area, Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is the official International Union for Conservation of Nature's IUCN Red List, Red List authority for birds. BirdLife International has established that 1,375 bird species (13% of the total) are threatened with extinc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Striated Caracara On Sealion Island
Striations means a series of ridges, furrows or linear marks, and is used in several ways: * Glacial striation * Striation (fatigue), in material * Striation (geology), a ''striation'' as a result of a geological fault * Striation Valley, in Antarctica * In hyperbolic geometry, a ''striation'' is a reflection across two parallel mirrors. * In anatomy, striated muscle * In acoustic phonetics, ''striations'' are vertical bands on a spectrogram associated with pulses of the vocal folds when producing voiced periodic sounds. * Striations can be found in certain glasses. These have been caused by turbulent flow during teeming (pouring) of the glass. * Striations can be observed in clouds. See Barber's pole. * Ballistic fingerprinting Forensic firearm examination is the forensic process of examining the characteristics of firearms or bullets left behind at a crime scene. Specialists in this field try to link bullets to weapons and weapons to individuals. They can raise and r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Killer Whale
The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, it inhabits a wide range of marine environments, from Arctic to Antarctic regions to tropical seas. Orcas are apex predators with a diverse diet. Individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey, including fish, sharks, rays, and marine mammals such as seals, dolphins, and whales. They are highly social, with some populations forming stable matrilineal family groups (pods). Their sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviors, often unique to specific groups and passed down from generation to generation, are considered to be manifestations of animal culture. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the orca's conservation status as data deficient as multiple orca types may re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hauling Out
Hauling out is a behaviour associated with pinnipeds (true seals, sea lions, fur seals and walruses) temporarily leaving the water. Hauling-out typically occurs between periods of foraging activity. Rather than remain in the water, pinnipeds haul out onto land or sea ice for reasons such as reproduction and rest. Hauling out is necessary in seals for mating (with the exception of the Baikal seal) and giving birth (although a distinction is generally made between reproductive aggregations, termed " rookeries", and non-reproductive aggregations, termed "haul-outs"). Other benefits of hauling out may include predator avoidance, thermoregulation, social activity, parasite reduction and rest. There is much variation in haul-out patterns among different seal species.Hoelzel, A. Rus. (2002). ''Marine Mammal Biology: An Evolutionary Approach''. Blackwell Publishing. . p. 197. Haul-out sites may be segregated by age and sex within the same species. Many species of pinniped have only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Elephant Seal
The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season. A bull southern elephant seal is about 40% heavier than a male northern elephant seal (''Mirounga angustirostris''), which is nearly twice the weight of a male walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus''), or 6–7 times heavier than the largest living mostly terrestrial carnivorans, the Kodiak bear and the polar bear. Taxonomy The southern elephant seal was one of the many species originally described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'', where it was given the binomial name of ''Phoca leonina''. John Edward Gray established the genus ''Mirou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Sea Lion
The South American sea lion (''Otaria flavescens'', formerly ''Otaria byronia''), also called the southern sea lion and the Patagonian sea lion, is a sea lion found on the western and southeastern coasts of South America. It is the only member of the genus ''Otaria''. The species is highly sexually dimorphic. Males have a large head and prominent mane. They mainly feed on fish and cephalopods and haul out on sand, gravel, rocky, or pebble beaches. In most populations, breeding males are both territorial and harem holding; they establish territories first and then try to herd females into them. The overall population of the species is considered stable, estimated at 265,000 animals. Naming The South American sea lion was classified as ''Otaria flavescens'' by George Shaw in 1800 and as ''Otaria byronia'' by Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1820. The two nomenclatures were historically used interchangeably, but ''O. flavescens'' has become the preferred name. The species is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
