Grytviken

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Grytviken (Swedish for 'Pot Cove'; Grytvika/Grytviken in Norwegian) is the principal settlement in the United Kingdom territory of South Georgia in the South Atlantic. It was so named by a 1902 Swedish surveyor who found old English pots used to render seal oil at the site. It is the best harbour on the island, consisting of a bay (King Edward Cove) within a bay (Cumberland East Bay). The site is very sheltered, provides a substantial area of flat land suitable for building on, and has a good supply of fresh water.

The settlement at Grytviken was established on November 16, 1904, by the Norwegian captain Carl Anton Larsen as a whaling station for his Compañía Argentina de Pesca (Argentine Fishing Company). It was phenomenally successful, with 195 whales taken in the first season alone. The whalers utilised every part of the animals - the blubber, meat, bones and viscera were cooked to extract the oil and the bones and meat were used to make bonemeal and animal feedstuffs. Elephant seals were also hunted for their blubber. Around 300 men worked at the station during its heyday, operating during the southern summer between October and March. A few remained over the winter to maintain the boats and factory. Every few months a transport ship would bring essential supplies to the station and take away the oil and other products.

Image:Grytviken harbour historic.jpg

The whale population in the seas around the island was decimated over the following sixty years until the station closed in December 1966, by which time the whale stocks were so low that their continued exploitation was unviable. Even now, the shore around Grytviken is littered with whale bones and the rusting remains of whale oil processing plants and abandoned whaling ships.

The island is closely associated with the British explorer Ernest Shackleton. He set off from there on December 5, 1914, on the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which saw his crew being marooned on Elephant Island off Antarctica. He returned to Grytviken posthumously in 1922 after he died at sea at the beginning of another Antarctic expedition, since he chose South Georgia as his resting place. His burial place is located south of Grytviken, alongside those of whalers who died on the island.

During the Falklands War, Grytviken was captured by Argentine forces in early April 1982 following a brief battle with British Royal Marines. The Royal Marines, SAS and SBS retook the settlement three weeks later without a shot being fired.

The area is now the site of a scientific research station managed by the British Antarctic Survey. The continued occupation of the station serves a political purpose as well, in that it helps to maintain Britain's claim against Argentina for ownership of the territory. Along with the surrounding area, the station has been declared an Area of Special Tourist Interest (ASTI).

Grytviken is a popular stop for cruise ships visiting Antarctica, and tourists usually land to visit Shackleton's grave. There is a small museum in part of the former whaling station; its two curators are the only permanent inhabitants of the island. The station's church is the only building which retains its original purpose, and is still used occasionally for services. There have been several marriages in Grytviken, with the first one being registered on 24 February 1932, between A.G.N. Jones and Vera Riches, and a most recent one on 19 February 2006 between Peter W. Damisch and Lesley J. Friedsam.