The Isolated Island of South Georgia

South Georgia is a remote island located about 1,000 miles north of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic  . Like the Falklands it is a British Overseas Territory.

South Georgia is a rugged  treeless and mountainous island about 100 miles long and twenty miles wide and is uninhabited . At any one time there are usually about 30 people here, usually visiting scientists.

The first landing here was made by Captain James Cook aboard The Resolution of the Royal Navy in 1775 and he named the island after England’s King George III.

After making a foot crossing of the island Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and two companions  organised the rescue of his party from Elephant Island following the disaster that befell his 1916 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which he led.His ship The Endurance had become stuck in ice .He is buried in the cemetery at the old whaling station of Grytviken where there is a small church .

Commercial sealing was conducted on the island for nearly 150 years from  the late 1700s until early last century . During that period more than 140  visits are recorded of sealing parties. Then in the first half of the 20th century a whaling station was established .Wreckage associated the sealing and whaling operations are still here today including giant   iron try pots, hut ruins, graves and inscriptions. A South Georgia Museum was established on the island in 1992.

South Georgia is a giant breeding ground for elephant seals, fur seals, and  spectacular king penguins.

Destination – Antarctica