Berkeley Sound

Berkeley Sound (tinted) in the Falklands
Berkeley Sound with Wickham Heights in the background
Early mapping of Berkeley Sound (Dom Pernety, 1769)

Berkeley Sound (French: Baye Accaron,[1] Spanish: Bahía de la Anunciación [2]) is an inlet, or fjord in the north east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. The inlet was the site of the first attempts at colonisation of the islands, at Port Louis, by the French.

Berkeley Sound has several smaller bays within it - Port Louis harbour and Johnson's Harbour bay, separated by Grave Point, and includes islands such as Hog Island, Kidney Island (a nature reserve) and Long Island. It was enlarged as the result of glacial action.

Berkeley Sound was visited by Charles Darwin during his voyage on HMS Beagle in 1834. He found it an 'undulating land, with a desolate and wretched aspect...' ('Darwin and the Beagle', Alan Moorehead)

Currently, Berkeley Sound is used by the Falklands fishing industry as a designated locality for the transshipment of fish.,[3] with accidental oil spills having occurred in the process.[4][5]

Settlements on Berkeley Sound

Sources

  1. ↑ Dom Pernety, Antoine-Joseph. Journal historique d'un voyage fait aux Iles Malouïnes en 1763 et 1764 pour les reconnoître et y former un établissement; et de deux Voyages au Détroit de Magellan, avec une Rélation sur les Patagons. Berlin: Etienne de Bourdeaux, 1769. 2 volumes, 704 pp. Online vol. 1 & vol. 2. Abridged English version.
  2. ↑ PCGN Falkland Islands
  3. ↑ The 1986 Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance
  4. ↑ Oiled birds found after tanker fuel spill
  5. ↑ Where was FIG action on oil spill asks Falklands Conservation?

Coordinates: 51°34′07″S 57°56′06″W / 51.5685°S 57.9350°W