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Written by

marie.s

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South Georgia never remains the same for long (we know this by looking at a five-day weather forecast). The elements that make up our lives here, who we are surrounded by, and the furry friends we meet, all change with the movement of the seasons. This month we’ve seen lots of change, a fair few teary goodbyes, and the excitement of new hellos.

Sunrise on the 1st December over Grytviken Bay.

December began in true South Georgia fashion with the annual mass migration of this years’ elephant seal pups (known as ‘weaners’) from King Edward Point (KEP) Research Station to Grytviken. This year, after weeks of slow movement, and plenty of rolling down hills, the weaners arrived on our side of the bay on the 2nd December. We awoke to the sight of our small, round, velvet-fur friends strewn across the area in front of the museum (which we like to refer to as the ‘garden’). This hello wasn’t the most punctual, as many more slowly flopped into the garden as the week went on. At its peak, our outdoor display of historic objects, such as the ship mast and propellers, doubled up as a playground for the weaners to perform all kinds of acrobatics!

Elephant seal Weaners lounging in the Museum front garden

This first week of December also marked the departure of last year’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS) team, and we couldn’t let them leave without a small celebration (or two!). Our goodbye BBQ was led by Ash, our ‘top griller’ from the old BAS team. Bodil and Sally held up the veggie front and provided delicious snacks for all our non-meat eaters. The next week we threw a ‘house to house’ event in which each accommodation around the station hosted a mini-party with a different theme. Drukken Villa, home of the museum team, decided on an 80s theme, complete with mini-quiches and pineapple-upside-down cake!

One of our old BAS team members, Ash, cooking up a storm at the beach Barbeque.
Our South Georgia crew, having a post-BBQ fire with picturesque views.

On the museum side of things, our curatorial intern, Bodil, has had a very busy month! One task Bodil undertook was labelling the objects being taken down during the deinstallation of our display in the Jarvis Room. To do this, she used the ‘paraloid sandwich method’, which allows delicate objects to be labelled with their accession number. (This number links the object to our database which contains all the information we have about it.) Because writing directly onto these objects would damage them, Bodil used a bottom coat of chemically inert resin, called paraloid, to act as a protective barrier, and then marked the accession number onto the resin. Once dried, she applied a topcoat of resin over the number to seal the marking – hence the ‘sandwich’ method! This keeps the object safe from damage while allowing it to be kept close to its identifying number.

Bodil marking objects with their accession number using the ‘paraloid sandwich method’.

The Fullerton Room is also experiencing an update to its displays this season. As such, a large wooden plinth has been removed in preparation for a new case dedicated specifically to the Endurance story. In this case, we look forward to displaying the polar medal of the Endurance expedition’s physicist, Reginald James, along with the diaries that he kept while stranded on Elephant Island.

The Fullerton Room after the old display platform had been removed.

As the December days went by, we slowly moved into the festive season. While a real Christmas tree would never be allowed ashore because of our rigorous biosecurity checks, one visiting cruise ship brought great tidings in the form of a real fir tree on board! In the case of Dee and myself, we smelt the tree before we saw it. One strange phenomenon on South Georgia is that your nose becomes finely attuned to scents you haven’t smelled in a long time, and Christmas trees are no exception!

Dee and Livvie celebrating the appearance of a real Christmas tree!

Carrying on the festive theme, the annual decorating of Grytviken church for the Christmas period took place on the 5th of December – with plenty of festive tunes, dancing and mulled wine brewed by the museum team. After that it was down to the logistical untangling and arranging skills of the South Georgia locals to hang up the garlands, tinsel and baubles! Payment for their generous help came in the form of a lentil dahl feast, prepared by Dee!

Livvie, Bodil and Dee at the Christmas decorating party in Grytviken Church.
The hungry workers eating Dee’s delicious lentil dahl.

The arrival of the BAS research ship, the Sir David Attenborough, marked the summer football match played between the staff from KEP research station and the SDA. Unusually, KEP did not suffer a devastating loss – just an average one. We saw this a huge win, with the game ending 6-3 as the final score. The SDA also showed good sportsmanship by throwing a BBQ for the defeated South Georgia locals, which was very much appreciated.

Our annual summer football match in play.

Shortly after the departure of the SDA, we launched into the busiest part of our season so far: Christmas and New Year. In the 12 days from the 22nd December to the 3rd January we had 17 ships, 2928 passengers (which made up 39% of the seasons passengers so far), and led 20 tours of the whaling station stores. We also sold a whopping 389 magnets in the shop!

Livvie stock counting a whole colony of plush penguins amidst Christmas week.

As December wound to a close, all that was left to say was goodbye 2024 and hello 2025! It’s been an incredible year for SGHT where, thanks to your generous donations, we’ve been able to continue supporting vital conservation work on South Georgia.

Fittingly, we saw in New Years Day watching two humpback whales feeding in Cumberland Bay – the very place where whales were hunted in years gone by. We all hope that their appearance in the bay could signify a new chapter for our barnacled friends, where the damage of the past is reversed, and South Georgia becomes a place of safety, not threat. We wish a very Happy New Year to our friends and supporters who make this positive change possible. May it continue for years to come.

Sunrise over Cumberland Bay on New Years Day.

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