Penguins of the Falkland Islands and South America [Paperback]

Dr. Mike Bingham (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: 1st Book Library (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0759633355
• ISBN-13: 978-0759633353
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,667,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mike Bingham began his career studying marine turtles and Hawaiian Geese for the US Government in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. In 1993 he took up the post of Conservation Officer for the Falkland Islands. As part of his work as Conservation Officer for the islands, Mike led an island-wide penguin census in 1995, which revealed an 85% decline in penguin numbers since the establishment of the Falklands fishing industry just 10 years earlier. The full details of this census, including maps showing the exact location of every penguin colony in South America, tables showing population counts for each colony, and detailed information on every species of penguin found in South America, can be found in Mike's book "Penguins of the Falkland Islands and South America".
The Falklands fishing industry generated an income of US$20,000 for every man,woman and child living in the islands, so the Falklands government asked Mike to keep his findings confidential. When he insisted that the Falklands government should protect the remaining penguins with a system of no-fishing zones around penguin colonies, Mike was removed from office. When Mike obtained independent funding to continue his research into the penguin declines, he suffered police harassment, false arrests, and death threats. Mike took the Governor, Attorney General and the entire Executive Council to the Supreme Court for human rights violations, and won his case, with the Supreme Court Judge declaring that human rights abuses perpetrated against Mike Bingham had been morally and legally indefensible. This story is told in great detail in Mike's books, The Falklands Regime (in English) and El Regimen de las Malvinas (in Spanish).
Following his removal as Conservation Officer for the Falkland Islands, the British government funded Mike to set up a penguin monitoring programme in neighbouring Chile and Argentina, to determine whether the massive decline of Falklands penguins was indeed being caused by commercial fishing, or by other factors. Studies in Chile and Argentina, where penguins are protected from commercial fishing by no-fishing zones, showed increasing penguin populations. This confirmed that the decline of penguins was indeed unique to the Falklands, and that it was being caused by the Falklands' refusal to introduce no-fishing zones around penguin colonies, like those used successfully in Chile and Argentina. These results were published in a peer-reviewed scientific article entitled "The decline of Falkland Islands Penguins in the presence of a Commercial Fishing Industry' (Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 75:805-818). Mike also presented these results to the International Penguin Conference, who responded by petitioning the Falklands government to instigate protection for Falklands penguins, which they declined to do.
Mike continues to work for the Organization for the Conservation of Penguins, supported by both the Chilean and Argentine governments. His research is now funded entirely by book sales, and income from an Adopt a Penguin programme www.seabirds.org/adopt.htm. Mike insists that whilst working closely with government is great, that financial independence from government is essential in order to remain objective, and to prevent a repeat of what occurred in the Falklands.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must have book if you're planning a trip to see Falkland Island's wildlife, August 28, 2005

By 

WiscGirl (Racine, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Penguins of the Falkland Islands and South America (Paperback)

I bought this book because we are planning a trip to the Falkland Islands specifically to see the penguins. Our goal is to view all 17 species of penguins in their natural habitats. This book really identified exactly where to see which type of penguin, how many nest at each site, time of year they come on shore to breed, etc... For this purpose, I highly recommend this book. Although we admire Dr. Bingham work and support his cause, some of the text came across as an angry diatribe against the Falkland Island government which may lessen the scientific credibility of his work, eg "Firstly I discovered firearms hidden under my bed, but I was able to dispose of them prior to the Customs raid...".

3.0 out of 5 stars Summarized briefing of field observations and data, November 13, 2008

By 

Soleglad (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Penguins of the Falkland Islands and South America (Paperback)

Basics: 2001, softcover, 133 pages, simple b&w sketches and maps

Offering us a synopsis of his field research, the author documents and summarizes the natural history of the seven penguin species found in South America. The focus of this book is purely as reference. It does not offer photos, illustrations, or text that can be used for identification. The single black-and-white sketch for each bird is included at the beginning of each mini-chapter more as decoration.

The book has four distinct sections: (1) 17 pages on a general introduction to penguins; (2) 48 pages offering an account of each species; (3) 15 pages on penguins and the environment; and, (4) a 35-page bibliography. The information gives a very good background on a variety of natural history topics for each species. With the 4-10 pages that cover each penguin, good information is provided for the bird's population trends, nesting, breeding, and feeding habits, and human or environmental impacts.

Included with most of the birds are simple bar graphs denoting the population trends for nesting pairs and for hatched chicks. One or two rough, but effective, maps show the distribution of the species along with locations of breeding sites.

This book provides a good overview for anyone who wants to get a quick introduction to the life histories of these birds. It does not get bogged down in the more traditional science-data-research format. Instead, it's written in a more lay tactic that can be appreciated by the interested naturalist and eco-traveler. Reading this book in advance of a trip to the Falklands will offer a greater appreciation of the birds.

I've listed several related books below...
1) Birds And Mammals of the Antarctic, Subantartic And Falkland Islands by Todd
2) Birds of Argentina & Uruguay: A Field Guide by Narosky and Yzurieta
3) Birds of Patagonia, Tierra Del Fuego and Antarctic Peninsula by Couve
4) Guide to Birds of the Falkland Islands by Woods
5) Guia de aves de Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego by Narosky
6) Penguins by Davis/Renner
7) The Penguins (Bird Families of the World) by Williams
8) Penguins of the World by Lynch
9) Penguins: A Worldwide Guide by Marion
(written by Soleglad at Avian Review or Avian Books, November 2008)