Writer’s Notes: On January 6, 2016, our One Ocean Expedition made several visits to South Georgia Island. Prior to our arrival, I became absorbed in Sir Ernest Shackleton’s book, “South” wherein he vividly chronicled their Antarctic expedition, their failed attempt to reach the South Pole, and his unbelievable, triumphant rescue of his men. Between Shackleton’s book and One Ocean Expeditions’ daily lectures from the on-board Antarctic scholars, my thirst for further Antarctic history and knowledge continued to deepen. I read just about everything I could get my hands on during sea-days. And, to have it all come alive during our South Georgia Island visits was better than any university class I could have taken. If you’re the kind of traveler who demands more than just a drive-by cruise experience in Antarctica, then I highly recommend you seek out the authentic expedition companies like One Ocean Expeditions that fuel the imagination, and brings the history/nature books to life. ~ Mel Gee Henderson
PS: Your hunger for knowledge does not end when you disembark at the end of the epic expedition. As I’ve discovered, the more I’ve learned, the more I hunger for more. And, honestly, isn’t that what travel is designed to do? Make us all brighter at the end of the day!
Quote of the Day: “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” ~ Mohammed
South Georgia Island ~ At the start of the last century, dozens of companies set up whaling operations on South Georgia Island. After several highly profitable decades, however, they became victims of their own success and modernization. If these walls could talk, what stories they would tell? Welcome to Grytviken. 
Grytviken was the first whaling station to launch operations on the British island of South Georgia, lying in the South Atlantic roughly 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) due east of the bottom boot tip of Argentina. For 58 years, Grytviken was in continuous operation. It survived two world wars and a global economic crisis, greeted expeditions to Antarctica that had gotten stuck in pack ice and processed an enormous number of whales into oil and meat. In more than half a century, it handled 53,761 slaughtered whales, producing 455,000 metric tons of whale oil and 192,000 metric tons of whale meat. Then Grytviken became the icy ghost town that it is today. This fate was shared by all the whaling stations in the Antarctic. As the whaling industry boomed at the beginning of the 20th century, dozens of companies set up whaling operations here. When it became clear that whaling could fetch hefty profits, six permanent whaling stations were set up on South Georgia alone. Grytviken was the last to close up shop.
Today, all that remains is a movie theater, a church, a museum and a cemetery. All the cozy homes have been buried and destroyed by snow and ice. All the original residents have moved away, or died long ago. A landscape once filled by 500 men and their families is now inhabited by at most a few penguins, seals and tourists like me. And what was a remote stronghold of industrial whaling roughly a century ago is now nothing more than a city of ice, snow and rubble, and a handful of incredibly resilient, hardy caretakers who ensure that the island’s unique history isn’t totally lost.
Whaling Where Only The Fearless Go
The prevailing view at the time was that whaling around the South Pole promised little. Nonetheless, the pioneers of Antarctic whaling were convinced that whaling would still be a good idea because Europe’s northern seas had largely been emptied of whales by the turn of the century. On November 16, 1904, the Fortuna and another ship dropped anchor off Grytviken, and the station’s new 80-member crew set to work. It didn’t take long before the station was up and running. By Christmas Eve, the men had produced the first barrel of whale oil. Within a year’s time, that figure was meant to skyrocket to 7,000.
Whale Oil To Light The World
The whales were hunted down on the open seas, shot with harpoons, dragged to port and heaved onto shore at the stations. They were particularly prized for their blubber, the white layer of fat beneath the skin. At the time, the glycerin derived from this blubber was the main element used in cosmetic products like soaps and lotions, but it also formed the basis of fuels for oil lamps and boilers.
Whale hunters are dwarfed by their huge catch, a fin whale, on the whaler ‘Q Plain’ off Crytoiken or Grytviken, South Georgia. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
As time went on, the competing whaling stations continued to boost their capacities. At times, they even had to lend each other empty barrels when stations had more fat than containers to store it in. Between 1907 and 1908, the station at Grytviken produced more than 27,000 barrels of oil, after having filled only about 12,000 the previous year. These years in the first decade of the 20th century were also a golden era for those who invested in such operations: Within a single year, their dividends rose a mighty 15 percent, to reach 32.5 percent.
Even after Europe slid into war in 1914, things continued to go comparatively well for the whale hunters in the Antarctic. The supply of coal needed to fire the blubber-melting boilers admittedly got tighter. But the general shortage of resources simultaneously drove the price of whale oil up. Indeed, at times Grytviken could fetch up to 90 British pounds for a metric ton of whale oil — more than they had ever earned before. The whale fat also found use in the war effort, with blubber-produced nitroglycerin being used in explosive artillery shells and bombs. What’s more, there was growing demand in war-plagued Europe for cheap, but nutritious whale meat.
Butchering the whales at the stations was hard work done by hand. After being harpooned and towed to port, the whales were winched up a ramp and onto shore to die. Using sharp blades, two men made incisions on both sides of the whale along its entire length. From these, the white blubber would then pour out to the left and right. In the end, the men would strip the skin of the whale and separate the blubber from the meat.
A rusty whaling ship lies at the abandoned Husvik whaling station in Stromness Bay, South Georgia Island. When the whaling industry boomed at the beginning of the 20th century, dozens of companies set up whaling operations here. When it became clear that whaling could fetch hefty profits, six permanent whaling stations were set up on South Georgia alone.
Lured by high oil prices, some 19 companies set up whaling operations in the Antarctic at the beginning of World War I. Many of them wanted to speed up the killing process by going out on the high sea to hunt without a permit or dedicated processing stations. In doing so, they also cut into the business of land-based competitors, such as the Grytviken station.
40,000 Hunted Whales in a Single Season
The situation came to a head the following year, with whales becoming increasingly scarce and the storage rooms filling with unsold oil. In the 1930/31 season, the slaughter at the South Pole reached its zenith: A total of 40,201 whales were killed, about 32,000 of which were killed by unlicensed hunters on the open sea. By way of comparison, when Grytviken heralded in the era of industrial whaling in the Antarctic in 1904, whalers killed only 183 whales in the initial year.
The companies agreed to voluntary quotas for the next season, but the limits came too late for many species. By the mid-1930s, the humpback whale was virtually extinct in the Antarctic. At the same time, overproduction drove the price of whale oil to a record low. One station after another on South Georgia went under. By the time World War II broke out, only two were still active: Grytviken and Leith Harbour, whose cold warehouse also stored tons of whale oil produced in Grytviken.
Grytviken stayed afloat only because it still had financial reserves left from the golden years to temporarily cushion its losses. But the few successful years couldn’t make up for the fact that the company needed restructuring and to update its dilapidated station. In 1950, for example, Grytviken was being served by six harpoon boats that had been in service for more than 20 years.One last attempt at modernization in 1962 came too late.
Note: My special thanks to einestages.de, SPIEGEL ONLINE’s history portal for being a tremendous Grytviken research source.
POSTCRIPT to GRYTVIKEN
Grytviken has been cleaned up and restored to a great degree by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. We learned that the Norwegian Government has also provided some level of funding because the total annual Budget of the Government in South Georgia is $9 million. They run a tight and efficient staff with only seven employees. We met one Government Official named, Simon, and the rest are in Stanley or on their Fisheries Patrol Boats. Almost all the Government revenue comes from the sale of fisheries licenses, and visitors’ fees which are $60 per day, per person. We were happy to do our part. They’ve also recruited a Museum Intern, Matthew, who gave us an in-depth tour and enlightened briefing on how the old whaling station used to operate. The Museum is sponsored by the University of St. Andrews and students like Matthew are selected to spend 6 months in Grytviken. After our adventures on shore we returned to our Ship for a delightful dinner. We were joined by several of the Museum and government staff at Grytviken, including Simon and Matthew, and some of the scientists from the nearby British Station. Once again, we made new friends. It was difficult to say goodbye to our brilliant Grytviken friends!
After sailing all night, we landed at St. Andrews Bay where three large glaciers reach and caress the frosty sea. The surf was roaring as if to share in our excitement at reaching land. As we approached the shore, words from our King Penguin lecturer echoed in my mind, “You will witness what may be the largest colony of King Penguins on earth!” Well, our young Biologist, Kathryn was right. The King Penguins seem to carpet the entire South Georgia landscape! We were also greeted by HUGE (spoken in Trump fashion) Elephant Seals and a scattering of Fur Seals too. If ever I felt like a total alien on another planet, this was the day! Nothing could prepare me for this incredible experience. What an absolute “Pinch Me Moment!” Thank you Mother Nature. Once again, my heart overflows with gratitude for eyes that can witness the grandeur of our majestic Planet Earth.
“Row upon row of king penguins stretching off into the distance. This colony in Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, has hundreds of thousands of inhabitants! The brown chicks creche together and stand out from the tuxedoed adults.” ~Photo and caption by Craig Tomsett
We have one more day on South Georgia and then we sail to Antarctica–my 7th Continent. My heart is that of a teen in-love for the very first time…it’s throbbing with anticipation!
If you wish to follow in my ESCAPESEEKER footsteps, the easiest way to begin is by clicking on the following link: oneoceanexpeditions.com
Remember, no matter where you go, be the kindest person you know…and yes, that includes ALL living creatures you shall encounter.
Here’s to #blissful, #mindexpanding #soulenriching ESCAPES,
Mel aka The ESCAPESEEKER
![ESCAPESEEKER Priceless moment captured by Craig Tomsett. [Salisbury Plain, South Georgia Island]](https://escapeseeker.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/12615669_10154503499283032_545142086833635093_o.jpg)
ESCAPESEEKER Priceless moment captured by Craig Tomsett. [Salisbury Plain, South Georgia Island]
