An abundance of marine life - but the wildlife of the Falkland Islands is more vulnerable than most

You can hear them before you see them. And smell them.

At this time of year - the South Atlantic summer - the penguins of the Falkland Islands mob together in rookeries on these isolated beaches to raise their fluffy chicks.

And we're surrounded by them.

The beach at Volunteer Point on the northeast tip of the Falklands is home to its largest colony of king penguins.

Up to a metre tall, they stand squabbling in a defensive huddle around their chicks.

But there are others too, burrowing magellanic penguins and red-billed, yellow-footed gentoo.

Across the 740 islands that make up the Falklands there are five different species and around a million of them in total.

To prevent disturbance, and the spread of bird flu, visitors are asked to keep six metres from the birds.

But the rule doesn't apply in reverse.

Turn your back for a minute or two and a curious or territorial penguin will waddle right up, giving you a side-eye like a three foot yob in a colourful wetsuit.

The penguins are just some of the most visible and accessible marine life on these islands.

There are sealions, fur seals, even a few of the world's largest, the elephant seal.

Seabirds like albatross, petrels and only recently large numbers of whales are returning. They were rarely seen here since their wholesale slaughter in the 19th and 20th centuries.

An abundance of life that's in stark contrast to the windswept peat bog and rough grassland interior of the Falklands.

And a revelation to many visitors who arrive thinking the islands are remarkable only for the remoteness and a brutal conflict more than four decades ago.

But seeing the best of the island's wildlife isn't easy.

To get to Volunteer Point, it is a three-hour drive from the capital Port Stanley, two hours of which is off road.

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At one point even our well equipped 4X4 and experienced driver were no match for the boggy terrain that swallowed our vehicle's wheels up to the axles.

Like everywhere, the wildlife of the Falklands is vulnerable to climate change. But here, it's more vulnerable than most.

The Falklands is some of the first ice-free land between Antarctica and the rest of the world and many species here are at the northerly limit of their range, that is expected to move further south as the planet warms.

Already, numbers of rockhopper penguins are declining on the islands and that's thought to be due to their main food source, shrimp-like krill, moving further south to cooler waters.

The Falklands are receiving less rainfall, which has led to its peat soils drying out.

That, combined with centuries of overgrazing by sheep, is causing soil being blown away by strong South Atlantic winds.

"On some of the land that we're working on we're seeing around nine football pitches worth of soil blowing away each year," says Esther Bertram, chief executive of Falklands Conservation.

The drying climate has led to wildfires too. Recent fires burned crucial wildlife habitats. "We had albatrosses sitting on their nests literally burning alive," says Ms Bertram.

Conservation groups and researchers on the islands have been working to study the changing ecosystem and restore crucial habitats, including replanting native tussock grass to help retain the soil crucial for burrowing penguins and petrels. But even that work is in jeopardy.

Conservation and research here is almost entirely reliant on grant funding from the UK government through a scheme for British Overseas Territories called Darwin Plus.

However, the future of the scheme is in doubt as budgets for overseas development and conservation are threatened.

Defra, which administers the scheme, was unable to confirm whether the Darwin Plus scheme will continue beyond 2025.

With 8,000 miles of ocean between the Falklands and the financial dilemmas of Westminster, the value of their unique wildlife is easily overlooked.

(c) Sky News 2025: An abundance of marine life - but the wildlife of the Falkland Islands is more vulnerable than most