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The Falkland Islands lie on the South American continental Patagonian Shelf, in a relatively shallow area of the South Atlantic Ocean. The shelf extends some 100 miles to the north, 20 miles to the east and 30 miles to the south of the archipelago. The cold Falkland Current, which flows up from circumpolar ocean movements around Antarctica, splits when it reaches the Falklands. This creates upwellings of water, full of nutrients, to support a plentiful food resource, particularly of squid and krill, and a very rich marine life dependent on it. Further information can be found in the conference report The South West Atlantic Marine Environment: Research and Management available from our webshop, and from the New Atlas of the Patagonian Sea.
 It is an area internationally important for seabirds, notably the very large breeding populations of albatross, and penguins. For results of surveys undertaken by our Seabirds at Sea Team, which extensively recorded seabirds and marine mammals offshore, refer to Seabird and Marine Mammal Dispersion and Vulnerable Concentrations of Seabirds in Falkland Island Waters. For further information on threats to seabirds and work to protect them visit Saving Seabirds.
 These Islands are exceptionally rich in seaweeds. More than 200 different species have been recorded some of them unique to the Falklands and slightly more than the total number of land plants. Charles Darwin, in April 1834, after spending some time examining the creatures of the kelp bed communities in Berkeley Sound, East Falkland, declared: ‘Its main striking feature is the immense quantity of organic beings which are intimately connected with the kelp. I can only compare these giant forests to terrestrial ones in the most teeming part of the tropics.’
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14 whales, 10 dolphins and 5 seals are included in the 
Marine mammals in Falkland Islands waters are all protected under the 
Falklands Conservation in partnership with the