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

Berkeley Sound 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 – Uranie Bay, 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 round-the-world voyage on HMS Beagle in 1834. He found it an "undulating land, with a desolate and wretched aspect".[1]

Berkeley Sound is used by the fishing industry as a designated locality for the transshipment of fish,[2] with accidental oil spills having occurred in the process.[3][4]

Settlements

Sources

  1. ^ Darwin and the Beagle, Alan Moorehead
  2. ^ The 1986 Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance
  3. ^ Oiled birds found after tanker fuel spill Archived October 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Where was FIG action on oil spill asks Falklands Conservation?[permanent dead link]

51°34′07″S 57°56′06″W / 51.5685°S 57.9350°W / -51.5685; -57.9350


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