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LARSEN’S LEGACY: WHALING AND THE ANTARCTIC LIFESTYLE

Portrait of Larsen. Source: Vestfoldmuseenes mediearkiv

Larsen lived an extraordinary life. He made significant scientific contributions and participated in expeditions on par with those lead by Amundson, Shackleton and Scott. Despite this, he is often absent from our stories of the Heroic Age of exploration.

 

“Adventure, that is whaling in the waters around the Antarctic continent, the greatest and most wonderful adventure of our age. I knew nothing about whaling before I came to Deception Island. Today, I know that there is nothing in the world that impresses me more than the Norwegian whalers in the Antarctic. We can fly for a few hours over the Antarctic regions, maybe no one has done that before, and the newspapers all over the world make a lot of noise and fuss. But just imagine that here a whole whaling fleet of between 5,000 and 6,000 men is lying in these same regions. Down here in the very shadow of the South Pole a livelihood has been created which every year directly and indirectly earns hundreds of millions of kroner. The Norwegians have made the way through the hundred-mile-wide belt of ice into the Ross Sea a thoroughfare. They have taken a gamble and they have won. Whaling in the Antarctic Ocean is undoubtedly the toughest and most hazardous livelihood in the world. People write lengthy articles and voluminous tomes on polar fliers and polar explorers, but where are the books on the whalers in the Antarctic, which should provide reading matter for all the youth of the world?”

Carl Ben Eielson, who was one of two pilots doing first flights in the Antarctic in 1928
The grave of Carl Anton Larsen in Sandefjord. Source: Eva Marie Widemark Archive

Altogether there are 12 place names below the Polar Convergence tied to this remarkable man. The feature that is perhaps best known is the Larsen Ice Shelf, along the east coast of Antarctic Peninsula in the northwest part of the Weddell Sea. Explore these on our interactive maps.Link

Spokesman of A/S Rosshavet, Navy Captain O. Hanssen said of Larsen in his memorial speech, “We remember him as a man of boundless energy with a positive attitude. A man who would not give up until his work was done. His life’s work: Our expedition to the Ross Sea. The entire civilised world was watching with excitement to see the results of his well-planned and bold endeavour. Many consider his enterprise more than bold; it was courageous. But C.A. Larsen carried out his plan, and there are no many sceptics left. He has proven once again he was a visionary; a successful visionary. He was right.”

Larsen’s tenacity and passion fuelled the founding of successful companies that employed hundreds of men. Among those that worked with him, he was remembered as an inspiring and compassionate leader. He advocated for the welfare of his workers and was dedicated to his family fostering a whaling dynasty that prevailed decades after his death.

 

Grytviken whaling station. Source: Thomas Edward Binnie Jr.

The Museum and Drukken Villa. The heritage buildings are one of the few buildings left in Grytviken, now the work place and home to the Museum Team during the austral summer. The Museum welcomes thousands of tourists who visit every year. Source: South Georgia Museum

Larsen’s vision for whaling in South Georgia was comprehensive. His whaling station in Grytviken represents the first community on the island. Today King Edward Point is home to representatives of the government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and staff from the British Antarctic Survey. The former whaling station buildings of Grytviken are the workplace and home of the South Georgia Museum and staff. The way of life in modern Grytviken in many ways mirrors the way of life ferried in by Larsen.

The development of Antarctic whaling played a major part in shaping the political landscape of Antarctica. Larsen’s story highlights the complex interplay between commercial interests, scientific exploration, and national ambitions that came to define the continent and the southern seas in the first half of the 20th century.

This bust of Captain Larsen was placed in this Church on the 25 December 1988 by the Andrine and Captain C. A. Larsen Memorial Foundation, Norway, supported by H. E. the Commissioner of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Larsen’s life was marked by a unique blend of exploration and exploitation, curiosity and commercialism. While his ventures brought prosperity, they also foreshadowed the urgent need for conservation—a legacy that resonates deeply with modern-day ecological concerns.

When Carl Anton Larsen materialised his vision of industry in the southern seas he did so with significant geopolitical, economical and biological impact. South Georgia and Antarctica would not be the same without him.

CARL ANTON LARSEN born in Østre Halsen, Larvik in Norway, 7 August 1860, and died in Ross Sea on the 8 December 1924.

The RRS Sir David Attenborough sits at the wharf at King Edward Cove. The ship calls at KEP twice a year to supply the British Antarctic Survey science team and the South Georgia Museum team with food and supplies, and takes away rubbish and recycling. It also moves personnel from place to place. Source: South Georgia Museum