Grytviken Captial of South Georgia
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2007
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Trip End
Jan 19, 2007
Grytviken, S. Georgia and Sandwich Isl.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Now the site of the South Georgia Museum, the station remains the main attraction for many visitors on the South Georgia Islands.
Sir Ernest Shackleton's grave in the nearby whalers cemetery and his memorial cross on Hope Point at the eastern entrance of the cove mark the importance this town was to the great explorer of the early 20th century.
King Edward Point, a low promontory just below Hope Point, is the site of the South Georgia Government's administrative centre and fisheries research facility.
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Grytviken - Meeting Elephant Seals
Meeting Elephant Seals
The scenery in this area is exceptionally beautiful, the glaciers and snow covered peaks of the Allardyce Range, Mt. Sugartop, Mr. Paget, Mt. Roots, Nordenskjold Peak, Mt. Kling and Mt. Brooker form a magnificent backdrop to the cove and views from King Edward Point must be among the finest on earth.
The numerous sightings of penguins and seals that reside just outside Grytviken allow close up encounters with Antarctica's fauna. An amazing visit!
Grytviken has been the centre of human activity on the island since 1904, when C.A. Larsen established the islands first whaling station on the level land at the head of the cove. Larsen first visited the area in 1902 when he was captain of Nordenskjold's expedition vessel Antarctic. Andersson, the expedition's chief scientist discovered the cove while exploring the area from his campsite at Maiviken.
Antarctic was anchored for a month at Grytviken while the expedition conducted studies of the geology, plants and wildlife.
In 1904 Larsen returned after he had raised enough money in Argentina to form the whaling company Compania Argentina de Pesca - the days of the whale carnage started that led to the slaughtering of more than 150.000 whales until whaling was stopped in the 1960's.
