South Georgia, Godhul & Grytviken
Blue sky and sparkling sunshine greeted us this morning as the sailed into the sheltered fjord Godthul, named after a floating whale factory ship. We landed at the remains of the depot used by the whalers and found rusting chains, drums, water boats and a mix of old equipment, slowly rusting away. The beach itself was cluttered with gentoo penguins and of course fur seals. Fur seals have made a remarkable comeback: as late as 1927 a summer expedition around the island recorded only one single animal - now they occur in thousands on every beach.
Uphill was the only way to escape a crowed beach and many used the great weather opportunity to hike way up into the highlands to discover amazing scenery. Others went for a Zodiac cruise which took us to a beautiful waterfall. We also got to see williwaws sucking up the water from the surface of the sea.
After lunch we steamed into Cumberland Bay, Grytviken, a scientific station operated by BAS (British Antarctic Survey) and also the place to meet a representative of the British government.
This site was the gateway to Antarctica in the heroic age of exploration, and many expeditions heading south came via South Georgia. The Norwegian whaler and sealer, Captain Carl Anton Larsen spent time exploring South Georgia 1892 - 94 with his ship Jason, and later came back in 1902 with the ship Antarctica. After his eventful over wintering at Paulet Island, after the ship Antarctica had been crushed by the ice, the ship Uruguay brought the men back to Buenos Aires in 1904. He did not waste any time as he was able to raise money in Argentina and went south again. His aim was Grytviken, this extremely sheltered cove which he had seen during his previous visit in 1902. By late summer 1905 a busy whaling station was in operation and killed more than 700 whales just by hunting inside the bay. The whale oil was “gold” and stations proliferated until whaling peaked in 1929. After this everything declined as the stocks were depleted but Grytviken was able to continue operating until the mid-1960s.
In late 1914 an expedition, the ship Endurance sailed into Grytviken. Their aim was to make the first ever continental crossing of Antarctica; the British Trans-Antarctic expedition. The whalers here at Grytviken saw the ship and very rapidly warned the expedition leader Sir Ernest Shackleton about sailing into the Weddell Sea. Neglecting the warning about the worst ice-summer ever recorded by the whalers, Shackleton still sailed south in January 1915 with Endurance. His ship got caught by the ice and pushed through the clock-wise gyre in the Weddell Sea and finally crushed. This is now one of many great survival stories in polar history.
Less known about Shackelton is his successful expedition 1908 – 09 with ship Nimrod, sailing out from Lyttleton, New Zealand on New Years Day 1908. Shackleton was able to lead the way into the interior of Antarctica and almost made it to the geographical South Pole. His classic line written to his wife, explaining why he decided to turn back only 100 miles from the Pole was; “you may prefer a live donkey than a dead lion”. They were also the very first to make it to the magnetic South Pole.
Shackleton came back to South Georgia in 1922 with the ship, the Quest. At Grytviken he had a heart attack and died and is buried at the cemetery there and today we gathered at his headstone to toast this remarkable man!
For the evening several BAS staff joined us onboard for the recap and dinner. Better still they brought their post office onboard and their special National Geographic Endeavour stamp sold like hot cakes!
Blue sky and sparkling sunshine greeted us this morning as the sailed into the sheltered fjord Godthul, named after a floating whale factory ship. We landed at the remains of the depot used by the whalers and found rusting chains, drums, water boats and a mix of old equipment, slowly rusting away. The beach itself was cluttered with gentoo penguins and of course fur seals. Fur seals have made a remarkable comeback: as late as 1927 a summer expedition around the island recorded only one single animal - now they occur in thousands on every beach.
Uphill was the only way to escape a crowed beach and many used the great weather opportunity to hike way up into the highlands to discover amazing scenery. Others went for a Zodiac cruise which took us to a beautiful waterfall. We also got to see williwaws sucking up the water from the surface of the sea.
After lunch we steamed into Cumberland Bay, Grytviken, a scientific station operated by BAS (British Antarctic Survey) and also the place to meet a representative of the British government.
This site was the gateway to Antarctica in the heroic age of exploration, and many expeditions heading south came via South Georgia. The Norwegian whaler and sealer, Captain Carl Anton Larsen spent time exploring South Georgia 1892 - 94 with his ship Jason, and later came back in 1902 with the ship Antarctica. After his eventful over wintering at Paulet Island, after the ship Antarctica had been crushed by the ice, the ship Uruguay brought the men back to Buenos Aires in 1904. He did not waste any time as he was able to raise money in Argentina and went south again. His aim was Grytviken, this extremely sheltered cove which he had seen during his previous visit in 1902. By late summer 1905 a busy whaling station was in operation and killed more than 700 whales just by hunting inside the bay. The whale oil was “gold” and stations proliferated until whaling peaked in 1929. After this everything declined as the stocks were depleted but Grytviken was able to continue operating until the mid-1960s.
In late 1914 an expedition, the ship Endurance sailed into Grytviken. Their aim was to make the first ever continental crossing of Antarctica; the British Trans-Antarctic expedition. The whalers here at Grytviken saw the ship and very rapidly warned the expedition leader Sir Ernest Shackleton about sailing into the Weddell Sea. Neglecting the warning about the worst ice-summer ever recorded by the whalers, Shackleton still sailed south in January 1915 with Endurance. His ship got caught by the ice and pushed through the clock-wise gyre in the Weddell Sea and finally crushed. This is now one of many great survival stories in polar history.
Less known about Shackelton is his successful expedition 1908 – 09 with ship Nimrod, sailing out from Lyttleton, New Zealand on New Years Day 1908. Shackleton was able to lead the way into the interior of Antarctica and almost made it to the geographical South Pole. His classic line written to his wife, explaining why he decided to turn back only 100 miles from the Pole was; “you may prefer a live donkey than a dead lion”. They were also the very first to make it to the magnetic South Pole.
Shackleton came back to South Georgia in 1922 with the ship, the Quest. At Grytviken he had a heart attack and died and is buried at the cemetery there and today we gathered at his headstone to toast this remarkable man!
For the evening several BAS staff joined us onboard for the recap and dinner. Better still they brought their post office onboard and their special National Geographic Endeavour stamp sold like hot cakes!
