South Georgia Island: An Antarctic Outpost

South Georgia Island was our next South Atlantic port of call after a visit to the Falkland Islands.

In many ways, this was the stop we had anticipated the most on our 33-day repositioning voyage. We had first heard of South Georgia for its role in the Ernest Shackleton/Endurance saga (stay tuned, we’ll say a lot more about that!), and the place loomed large in our imaginations. During Seaventure’s two-day passage from the Falklands, we got a crash course on the island’s wildlife and storied history from the onboard naturalists and historians. We couldn’t wait to see this place for ourselves.

Officially known as South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Georgia Island is part of the British Overseas Territories. These also include the Falkland Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Ascension, and St. Helena. The U.K. has claimed sovereignty over South Georgia since 1775, but, like the Falklands, Argentina disputes that claim to this day.

The South Georgia landscape is otherworldly. For such an isolated place, it’s incredibly mountainous – the highest peak rises to almost 3,000 meters or 10,000 feet. It’s as though someone took the Canadian Rockies (minus the pine forests) and plopped them down in the middle of the South Atlantic. South Georgia Island is covered in ice and snow for most of the year, and the mountain slopes are scored by deep glaciers.

There are no permanent residents on South Georgia. It’s simply too remote and too inhospitable to support a year-round community. That said, there are at least 30 people living on the island at any given time, most of whom are research scientists. There’s also a seasonal crew of workers at Grytviken – museum staff, the postmistress, and a handful of government officials.

An icy world

On our first morning off South Georgia, we awakened to an incredible sight: the rising sun reflecting off an enormous field of icebergs. What an introduction to this wondrous place!

It turns out that the waters around South Georgia were littered with an unprecedented amount of icebergs, fragments of a huge ice floe that broke off Antarctica in 2019 and slowly drifted to the northeast. It was one more chilling (excuse the pun) example of how climate change is wreaking havoc in the natural world.

Over the next few days we’d come to learn a lot more about icebergs from our onboard naturalists. We’ve all heard the adage “the tip of the iceberg,” which comes from the fact that about 90% of an iceberg is submerged and hidden. Icebergs melt from the bottom up instead of the top down, which makes it hard to know how much of the iceberg is concealed underwater. Scientists estimate the lifespan of an iceberg, from first snowfall on a glacier to final melting in the ocean, to be as long as 3,000 years. We were looking at ice that was probably many centuries old!

If there’s an overriding theme to South Georgia’s history, it’s one of wildlife decimation and then renewal. It all started with famed explorer Captain James Cook, the first human known to set foot on the island in 1775.  Back home in England, he raved about the abundance of seals and whales that he encountered on and around the island. That opened the floodgates to sealers, who cashed in on the demand back home for sealskin coats, hats, and other luxury items. By 1912, they had almost completely wiped out the fur seal population of South Georgia and the sealing industry came to an end.

The whalers had a later start, but was no less destructive. The first whalers arriving to South Georgia were Norwegians who established the Grytviken whale processing station in 1904. At its peak, the South Georgia whaling industry operated six stations on the island to keep up with the global demand for whale products. The blubber in particular was highly prized, rendered into oil that was used in a wide variety of products from industrial lubricants to cosmetics. At Grytviken, whalers brought ashore the largest mammal ever recorded – a blue whale measuring 112 feet and weighing more than 100 tons.

By the time the last working whale rendering factory at Leith Station closed in 1965 (so recent!), more than 175,000 whales had been slaughtered and processed at South Georgia. (Here’s a fascinating look at Leith Station today from the Guardian.) The whale population around South Georgia had been decimated, with some species hunted almost to extinction.

In Shackleton’s wake

Famed polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton is best known for his ill-fated Antarctic expedition aboard the Endurance, which was trapped in pack ice and sank in the Weddell Sea off Antarctica in 1915. It’s one of the world’s most famous survival stories: The crew camped on the sea ice until it disintegrated, and they then launched the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island. From there, Shackleton and five other crew members set out for South Georgia in one of the lifeboats, enduring a stormy ocean voyage of 800 nautical miles and unimaginable hardship. Once they reached South Georgia, Shackleton was able to return to Elephant Island and rescue the rest of his crew.

Shackleton mounted a new Antarctic expedition in 1921, but sadly died of a heart attack at age 47 while his ship was moored at South Georgia. He was buried in the whaler’s cemetery at Grytviken, where he rests today.

Only two years ago, this tale got an amazing new chapter when when the wreck of the Endurance was discovered by a research team. She’s lying 3,008 meters down in the Weddell Sea and is reported to be in a “brilliant state of preservation.” Check out this Smithsonian article for more about the discovery.

A comeback story to end them all

AND NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS about South Georgia wildlife. With the collapse of the sealing and whaling industries, the animal populations began to recover. Fast forward to today, and South Georgia is known for having one of the highest concentrations of seabirds, whales, and other marine mammals anywhere on the planet.

This comeback has been helped along by an intensive government effort to eradicate two invasive species: rats that were preying on seabird eggs (the island was finally declared rat-free in 2018) and reindeer, which had been brought over by the Norwegians to provide recreational hunting and fresh meat. When the hunters left, the reindeer population exploded, to the detriment of the seal and seabird population. While the reindeer still figures prominently on the South Georgia coat of arms, the last one was shot in 2013. Here’s a fascinating account of the reindeer on South Georgia. 

For us, South Georgia was a wildlife wonderland – and several shore excursions allowed us to walk freely (but very carefully) among the seals, penguins, and other seabirds. Since humans are no longer their natural predators, the animals showed no fear of us – bringing back memories of our 2017 visit to the Galapagos Islands (another trip of a lifetime!).

A plethora of penguins

South Georgia Island has the largest colonies of king penguins in the world, with about 450,000 nesting pairs (about half of the worldwide population). King penguins spend most of their lives at sea and can dive as deep as 300 meters, feeding primarily on squid and tiny crustaceans called krill. They come ashore to mate and breed, and the female lays a single egg that takes up to 55 days to hatch – with both mom and dad sharing incubation duties. Like the emperor penguins in the film “March of the Penguins,” the king penguin parents balance the egg on their feet and incubate it in a “brood pouch.” It takes up to 14 months for a chick to mature, one of the longest breeding cycles in the bird world.

South Georgia Island is also the primary breeding ground for chinstrap penguins, the world’s most abundant penguin breed. On South Georgia we saw numerous chinstraps and also gentoo penguins.

So many seals 

We first spotted fur seals swimming alongside Seaventure as we left Ushuaia and cruised out of the Beagle Channel. But when we got to South Georgia, we couldn’t believe how numerous they were – especially knowing they were once hunted almost to extinction. In fact, South Georgia is home to about 95% of the global population of Atlantic fur seals, and we were there (early March) just as this year’s crop of pups was starting to feel its oats.

A gaggle of fur seals at Ocean Harbor. Some of them look like they’re up to no good!

This mama was keeping a close watch on her baby.

A rare blonde fur seal pup

In Fortuna Bay, fur seals and king penguins coexist peacefully.

One afternoon as Seaventure came into Stromness Bay, we were greeted with an amazing sight. Hundreds if not thousands of juvenile fur seals swam out to meet us and then proceeded to put on a show, frolicking and leaping and tumbling against each other. It was unforgettable! Here’s a quick video of the scene:

South Georgia is also home to about half of the global population of southern elephant seals (around 400,000) , the largest of all seal species. Males typically weigh six times more than females and can weigh up to 4.5 tons. We didn’t see many elephant seals, but they and the Antarctic fur seals breed in significant numbers on the island’s beaches. Both breeds are sadly under a new threat, bird flu, which we discuss below.

The magnificent wandering albatross

It’s the world’s largest flying bird (with a wingpsan up to 13 feet!), but the wandering albatross spends most of its time at sea – coming ashore only to breed and care for its chicks. That’s why few people ever get to see these amazing avians in person, but we were very lucky to spot them almost every day in the far South Atlantic. Albatrosses are able to travel thousands of kilometers in a single journey, often clocking speeds of up to 127 km or 70 miles per hour. They’re able to soar without flapping their wings for several hours at a time, and they’re able to sleep in the air by “turning off” half their brains – a factoid we found especially amazing.

Sadly, albatross are globally threatened, and more than 100,000 of them are killed every year as bycatch on long-line fishing boats.

Our best pic of a wandering albatross, somewhere at sea near South Georgia

A wandering albatross, who died of natural causes, on display in the South Georgia Museum.

Biosecurity, and a new threat to South Georgia’s wildlife

On the second day of our voyage, even before we reached the Falklands, we got some bad news. South Georgia Island had seen an outbreak of bird flu, also known as avian influenza (HPAI), that had killed a significant number of elephant and fur seas in and around Grytviken, one of our most anticipated South Georgia landings. The virus had also been found in several penguin breeds on the island. As a result, we would not be allowed to visit Ernest Shackleton’s grave, and we might not even be able to go ashore anywhere on South Georgia.

Biosecurity is a dead-serious topic for anyone wishing to visit the South Atlantic. In an attempt to counteract the spread of avian influenza, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has adopted strict biosecurity measures for all expedition ships stopping at the Falklands, South Georgia, and the Antarctic peninsula.

Onboard Seaventure on our first day at sea, we had a mandatory session on these biosecurity measures and what we would need to do to comply. We also had to bring all of our gear – backpacks, jackets, hats, gloves, anything with velcro – to a “biosecurity party” where we would inspect and clean it with help from a member of the expedition crew. Velcro is a particular concern because it can trap things like seeds and other debris. We also had to haul our waterproof excursion boots down to the “marina level” of the ship to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

Each time we departed the ship to board the Zodiacs, we had to walk our boots through a disinfectant solution and then repeat the process once we got onshore. Upon returning to Seaventure, we had to stand in a boot washing machine (kind of like a mini car wash) to remove mud and other debris. Those boots were always clean!

Grytviken: A time capsule from the whaling age

By the time we reached Grytviken, our last stop in South Georgia, we got some good news – the bird flu had abated enough that we would be able to go ashore there. And as a last-minute surprise, we learned that we would also be able to visit Shackleton’s grave!

After Seaventure passed a rigorous biosecurity inspection by South Georgia officials (including spot inspections of some of the passengers), we landed among the fur seals on the shingle beach. Large areas of Grytviken were still off limits, and we were not allowed to sit or put anything (like a backpack) on the ground or come within five meters of any wildlife. We also had to pass through disinfectant foot baths when stepping on the beach or entering any of the buildings. It was a small price to pay to see this fascinating place.

Our first stop was Shackleton’s grave, which we could only visit in small groups and only for a few minutes. There, we were each given a wee dram of whisky and raised a toast to “The Boss,” the brave adventurer who fought incredible odds to save the lives of all of his men.

At the height of its operations, the Grytviken station could process 25 whales in a single day. The blubber, meat, bones, and entrails were fed into huge pressured cookers and boiled to render the oil. Today, the Grytviken site has been cleaned up and hazardous materials removed to protect visitors, but it’s still easy to imagine the scale and efficiency of the station in its prime.

Two other Grytviken highlights are the South Georgia Museum, located in what was once the whaling station manager’s house, and the Whaler’s Church up the hill. The museum covers all aspects of the South Georgia’s history, both human and natural, with an emphasis on life in an early 20th-century whaling town.

The Whaler’s Church, also known as the Norwegian Anglican Church, was built in 1913. The lovely church is simple and unassuming, and is the only building at Grytviken that still serves its original purpose. Inside are moving plaques and memorials including several honoring members of the Shackleton expedition.

A few parting thoughts

It’s not easy to get to South Georgia. The only real way for tourists to see this amazing place is to take an Antarctic expedition ship from Ushuaia, as we did (we highly recommend Polar Latitudes, our expedition company). That said, up to 80 ships carrying several thousand tourists visit the island every year. All visiting ships must be IAATO members and adhere to the organization’s high standards for biosecurity and other measures designed to protect the sensitive Antarctic environment. The South Georgia Heritage Trust also works hard to protect the ecology and preserve this history of this special place.

The wildlife of the Antarctic faces an uphill battle. The arrival of bird flu is only the latest threat to the birds and mammals of South Georgia. One frightening trend is the decline of krill, one of the most important food sources for fur seals, penguins, and other creatures (as one of our naturalists said, almost everything in the South Atlantic either eats krill or eats something that eats krill). These tiny crustaceans face several threats including ocean warming from climate change, pollution, and overfishing (krill are harvested for use as feed in aquaculture).  If the krill population continues to collapse, so will many other species up the food chain. It’s just one more troubling example of how human actions are destroying the natural world.

Check out this great video. A few years ago I interviewed a filmmaker and naturalist, Bertie Gregory, for a work project. At the time Bertie was  making a series of short films for National Geographic about the wildlife in some of the world’s most isolated places. His segment on South Georgia stuck with me (little did I know that we’d be actually stepping foot there someday!). It’s a great overview of South Georgia’s natural history, with awesome sailing footage to boot!