Steeple Jason Island is a small island located at 51.0333333°S 61.1833333°W, west of the Grand Jason Island

Grand Jason Island

Grand Jason Island is a small island located at , east of the Steeple Jason Island. It is a part of the Jason Islands in the Falkland Islands, and along with Steeple Jason it is one of the "Islas los Salvajes" in Spanish .-Wildlife:Grand Jason is a home to one of the largest colonies of...

. It is a part of the Jason Islands

Jason Islands

The Jason Islands are an archipelago in the Falkland Islands, lying to the far north-west of West Falkland. Three of the islands, Steeple Jason, Grand Jason and Clarke's Islet are private nature reserves owned by the Wildlife Conservation Society, New York...

 in the Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...

. Along with Grand Jason it is one of the "Islas los Salvajes" in Spanish (the Jasons being divided into two groups in that language).

Population and geography

None of the Jason Islands has ever been properly inhabited. Steeple Jason was used for sheep grazing up until the 1980s. There are the remains of a disused shearing shed on the island. There is also the Steinhart Station, a field research station on the island, built in 2003 for monitoring wildlife.

The island is surrounded by a low lying land around the shore, which quickly rises into a steep peak, hence the island's name.

The island was formerly owned by New York philanthropist Michael Steinhardt

Michael Steinhardt

Michael H. Steinhardt is an American investor and philanthropist active in Jewish causes. He was one of the first prominent hedge fund managers, and is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He founded Steinhardt, Fine, Berkowitz & Co., a hedge fund, in 1967...

, who later donated them to the Bronx Zoo

Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....

 based Wildlife Conservation Society

Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society based at the Bronx Zoo was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society and currently manages some of wild places around the world, with over 500 field conservation projects in 60 countries, and 200 scientists on staff...

.

Wildlife

Steeple Jason is a home to the largest colony of Black-browed Albatross

Black-browed Albatross

The Black-browed Albatross or Black-browed Mollymawk, Thalassarche melanophrys, is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae, and it is the most widespread and common albatross.-Taxonomy:...

es in the world. Over 70% of the global population of Black-browed Albatross breed in the Falkland Islands.

Other birdlife includes rockhopper penguin

Rockhopper penguin

The rockhopper penguins are three closely related taxa of crested penguins that have been traditionally treated as a single species and are sometimes split into two or three species. Not all experts agree on the classification of these penguins...

s, Magellanic penguin

Magellanic Penguin

The Magellanic Penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus, is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil where they are occasionally seen as far north as Rio de Janeiro. It is the most numerous of the Spheniscus penguins. Its nearest...

s, Gentoo penguin

Gentoo penguin

The Gentoo Penguin , Pygoscelis papua, is easily recognized by the wide white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head and its bright orange-red bill. The gentoo penguin has pale whitish-pink webbed feet and a fairly long tail - the most prominent tail of all penguins. Chicks have...

s, slender-billed prions

Slender-billed Prion

The Slender-billed Prion or Thin-billed Prion, Pachyptila belcheri, is a species of seabird in the Procellariidae family.It is found in the southern oceans.-Taxonomy:...

, caracara

Caracara

Caracaras are birds of prey in the family Falconidae. They are traditionally placed in the subfamily Polyborinae, but are sometimes considered part of their own subfamily, Caracarinae, or members of the true falcon subfamily, Falconinae...

s and tussac-birds. The Magellanic penguin is near the southern part of its range here, but the more cold-tolerant Gentoo also occurs substantially south into Antarctica. The sole mammalian life is marine, e.g. sea lions, and fur seal

Fur seal

Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds in the Otariidae family. One species, the northern fur seal inhabits the North Pacific, while seven species in the Arctocephalus genus are found primarily in the Southern hemisphere...

s.

Large beds of kelp

Kelp

Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....

 surround the island, and the land is covered in grasses common to the other Falkland Islands, such as tussac grass.

Birds and other wildlife on Steeple Jason Island are in many cases under threat, chiefly due to overfishing

Overfishing

Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....

in the South Atlantic Ocean over the last century.