Here’s one you won’t find in the classified of your local paper: 26,000 acres of windswept island just a stone’s throw north of Antarctica are up for sale. Neighbors include penguins of the Gentoo, Magellenic and Rockhopper varieties.
The listing in question? Pebble Island, the third largest of the British-owned Falkland Islands, which lie about 300 miles off the eastern coast of Patagonia. The land is currently up for sale for the first time in a long time; last time around, an Englishman named John Markham Dean bought it for £400 in the late 1800s. It might sound paltry, but that sum is worth nearly £465K in today’s coin.
And the island is sure to go for quite a bit again this time around. Pebble might not find its way into a Corona ad anytime soon — it’s a barren, rugged sort of beautiful — but it does pair a fascinating, turbulent history with an eclectic assortment of wildlife. One part of the island still plays host to a shot-down Argentine Air Force plane, (dating back to the 70-day Falklands War between the U.K. and Argentina in 1982), while other parts feature working sheep farms (the island is actively agricultural for wool and meat).
The wildlife, though, is what makes this largely unfettered place special. In addition to the flightless birds in the tuxedos, there are 42 breeding avian species, whales, sealions, dolphins and eight endemic plants. For the conservationists out there, it doesn’t get much better than this.
If interested in purchasing the island, head here.
—
h/t Atlas Obscura
Images courtesy Claire Harris
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
