South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands – sealers, whalers and explorers
These remote islands in the South Atlantic have never had an indigenous population. South Georgia was first sighted in 1675 by the London merchant Anthony de la Roché, and in 1775 James Cook made the first landing and claimed it for Britain, naming it after King George III. On the same voyage he also charted parts of the South Sandwich Islands.
Cook's reports of abundant seals attracted sealers, who hunted the animals intensively throughout the nineteenth century. In 1904 the Norwegian Carl Anton Larsen founded the whaling station at Grytviken, the first permanent settlement. Several stations followed, and for decades South Georgia was a centre of Antarctic whaling until the industry collapsed and Grytviken closed in 1965. The island is also closely linked to Ernest Shackleton, who crossed it in 1916 to rescue his stranded crew and was later buried at Grytviken.
The islands were long administered as dependencies of the Falkland Islands. In 1982 Argentine forces briefly occupied South Georgia during the Falklands War before British forces retook it. Since 1985 the islands have formed a separate British Overseas Territory, while Argentina continues to claim them.
Today there are no permanent residents, only scientists, government staff and seasonal visitors; the territory is shaped by nature conservation, research and the restoration of its unique wildlife habitats.
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