In my South Georgia post of 4th February, I outlined a little of the history of whaling operations on the island. I also covered my trip to the island in more detail and photos of the whaling station at Grytviken.
There were seven whaling stations operating on the island for various periods of time between 1906 and 1962, overall perhaps the best known being Stromness Harbour.
From 1907, a floating factory ship was used in the harbour with the land factory being developed in 1912. It had a relatively short life as a whaling station, lasting only until the 1931/32 season when whale oil prices crashed. From then on, the site was converted into a ship repair yard complete with a foundry, machine shop and moderate narrow gauge railway network. The site remained in operation until 1961, when it was closed and abandoned. Unlike Grytviken, over the years some of the whaling factory equipment has disappeared completely.
The site is best known for being the point at which Ernest Shackleton made contact with people after his epic journey. Following the sinking of his ship, Endurance, Shackleton reached Elephant Island in Antarctica. From there, he and a few crew sailed 830 miles in a 22-foot long lifeboat, reaching the south-western side of South Georgia at King Haakon bay. From there, they hiked for 36 hours over the mountains to the whaling station at Stromness, arriving on 20th May 1916.
As with other whaling stations, except Grytviken, a 200 metre exclusion land and sea exclusion zone now exists around the site due to the partially collapsed state of many of the buildings and quantity of asbestos which is known to be there. It’s understood that access can be gain by applying to the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands’, but undoubtedly they aren’t easily obtained due to the dangerous state of the site.
Photos were taken on 9th November 2024, some from a zodiac inflatable boat off shore and some near the beach after we landed a short distance from the station. Seals were widespread throughout the area.
There were seven whaling stations operating on the island for various periods of time between 1906 and 1962, overall perhaps the best known being Stromness Harbour.
From 1907, a floating factory ship was used in the harbour with the land factory being developed in 1912. It had a relatively short life as a whaling station, lasting only until the 1931/32 season when whale oil prices crashed. From then on, the site was converted into a ship repair yard complete with a foundry, machine shop and moderate narrow gauge railway network. The site remained in operation until 1961, when it was closed and abandoned. Unlike Grytviken, over the years some of the whaling factory equipment has disappeared completely.
The site is best known for being the point at which Ernest Shackleton made contact with people after his epic journey. Following the sinking of his ship, Endurance, Shackleton reached Elephant Island in Antarctica. From there, he and a few crew sailed 830 miles in a 22-foot long lifeboat, reaching the south-western side of South Georgia at King Haakon bay. From there, they hiked for 36 hours over the mountains to the whaling station at Stromness, arriving on 20th May 1916.
As with other whaling stations, except Grytviken, a 200 metre exclusion land and sea exclusion zone now exists around the site due to the partially collapsed state of many of the buildings and quantity of asbestos which is known to be there. It’s understood that access can be gain by applying to the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands’, but undoubtedly they aren’t easily obtained due to the dangerous state of the site.
Photos were taken on 9th November 2024, some from a zodiac inflatable boat off shore and some near the beach after we landed a short distance from the station. Seals were widespread throughout the area.
