As you all know, I live at King Edward Point, the headquarters of the British Antarctic Survey on South Georgia. It is also home to the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and within the bay, we also have a historic whaling station called Grytviken.
Grytviken was first established by Carl Larsen in 1904 and used as a station for the hunting of whales and elephant seals. Grytviken was home to 300 people at peak running but was thankfully closed down in 1966.
Now much of the station is rusting away but we have a building and museum team based here during the summer months, whose job it is to maintain the buildings and displays for visiting tourists.
Many tourists come to Grytviken, not only to see the old whaling station but also because of its relevance to Shackleton. When Shackleton and his men were famously trapped on their ship Endurance before escaping to Elephant Island, he and several members of his crew sailed for help and reached the shores of South Georgia. After they had traipsed across the mountains and glaciers of South Georgia, they eventually reached Grytviken from where they were able to launch a rescue mission.
Another of Grytviken’s attractions is the post office!…
Mount Hodges is 602m and towers behind Grytviken and offers incredible views above the whaling station across the entire Thatcher Peninsula.
