Falkland Islands Expedition 2009 Successfully Completed

After paddling 22 days in strong winds and seas, New York City based sea kayaker Marcus Demuth has successfully completed the world first circumnavigation of the Falkland Islands. The goal of the expedition was to be the first kayaker to successfully circumnavigate the 776 Falkland Islands and to document and study the marine wild life of the fairly inaccessible outer Falkland Islands.

Previous attempts to circumnavigate the Falkland Islands include two separate British Special Forces teams and a US team of two kayakers, all ending unsuccessfully.

“It was a very hard trip with many challenges such as constant high winds, large kelp fields, and mine fields which sometimes made landings impossible for many miles,” said Marcus. “During stages of the trip I had to kayak with 2 charts, a nautical chart and a mine chart, supplied by the British Forces, in order to avoid landing on beaches which still contained mines left from the Falkland War.”

The Falkland Islands is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean located 300 miles east of Cape Horn, 671 miles west of South Georgia and 584 miles north of Antarctica. Because of the Falklands’ small population, harsh climate, and isolation, the majority of the islands are uninhabited and completely untouched by humans. The wildlife on the Falklands is especially spectacular on these fairly inaccessible outer islands (such as the Jason Islands), featuring penguin colonies, large sea lions up to 700 pounds, elephant seals up to 3.5 tons, pods of orcas, and aggressive fur seals.

Past sea kayaking expeditions have taken Marcus to Iceland (a country Marcus will revisit in 2009 for a second attempt to circumnavigate), Ireland, the South and West Coast of Australia, and Chile/Patagonia.

For more information, photos and blogs please visit: www.marcusdemuth.com

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