Skip to main content

News & Blogs

We invite you to learn more about our team and our work. Through our social media and blogs you can discover the stories and activities of our work on island. Together, we strive to inspire a sense of wonder and responsibility for the planet we all share, whilst encouraging responsible travel and tourism. Join us on our journey...

Did the whalers have alcohol?
Did the whalers have alcohol?

As we get closer to Christmas, you might have a cup of good cheer or raise a toast to the end of 2024 – however, alcohol was not permitted for most whalers working at the whaling stations in South Georgia. The Police/Customs Officer at the

November 2024 Museum Blog – Fur Seal Pups & Tidy Ups
November 2024 Museum Blog – Fur Seal Pups & Tidy Ups

The refrain from the museum team throughout November was ‘where did October go?!’, and it seems like November has now met the same fate! November was a busy month for the museum team, with us welcoming 22 ships and 2570 passengers to Grytviken!

We saw a lot of dandelions on South Georgia, are they bad?
We saw a lot of dandelions on South Georgia, are they bad?

South Georgia has a unique and fragile ecosystem. Through human intervention, the island has been impacted by the introduction of non-native species, including dandelions. Dandelions, likely introduced unintentionally through Norwegian soil placed on whalers’ graves, have become a common sight on South Georgia. They are

Sledging, Snow-clearing and Shivering: October Blog
Sledging, Snow-clearing and Shivering: October Blog

This October the museum team has been busy getting the museum ready for the busy season ahead. We arrived in late September and greeted their first ship the next day! It’s been an incredibly snowy spring in Grytviken. The first weeks of October, the track

Did the whalers have a supermarket?
Did the whalers have a supermarket?

The whalers probably wished they had a supermarket! The sealers and whalers brought a variety of domestic animals such as reindeer and sheep to South Georgia, mainly for food. Only reindeer were successful in surviving without the whalers’ help . Of the three herds that

October 2024 Museum Blog – Sledging, Snow-Clearing, and Shivering
October 2024 Museum Blog – Sledging, Snow-Clearing, and Shivering

This October the museum team has been busy getting the museum ready for the busy season ahead. We arrived in late September and greeted their first ship the next day! It’s been an incredibly snowy spring in Grytviken. The first weeks of October, the track

Why did whaling in South Georgia stop?
Why did whaling in South Georgia stop?

South Georgia was once a hub for the global whaling industry. For over six decades, the waters surrounding the island were the scene of intense whaling with 175,250 whales killed and processed. The first whaling station on South Georgia was established in 1904 by Norwegian

Why aren’t there any lighthouses on South Georgia?
Why aren’t there any lighthouses on South Georgia?

During the whaling era, in the early 1900s, the first government Magistrate took the advice from the whaling companies and made several recommendations to install various lights, beacons and a bell buoy to aid navigation around South Georgia. All of these were installed and maintained

The Whalers’ Library Project
The Whalers’ Library Project

This season we started a project to catalogue the books in the library in the whalers’ church at Grytviken. The room holds thousands of books, so the cataloguing process will take some time. We have only catalogued about a tenth of the books this season,