Husvik is a former whaling station on the north-central coast of

South Georgia Island South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

. It was one of three such stations in

Stromness Bay Stromness Bay is a bay wide, entered between Cape Saunders and Busen Point on the north coast of South Georgia. Stromness Bay, like Leith Harbour takes its name from a location in Scotland, Stromness, on the Orkney Mainland. This is partia ...

, the other two being

Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...

and

Leith Harbour Leith Harbour (), also known as Port Leith, was a whaling station on the northeast coast of South Georgia, established and operated by Christian Salvesen Ltd, Edinburgh. The station was in operation from 1909 until 1965. It was the largest ...

. Husvik initially began as a floating, offshore factory site in 1907. In 1910, a land station was constructed and remained operational until 1930; business resumed again between 1945 and 1960. Husvik Harbour was also the site of the third introduction of

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

to South Georgia in 1925. The three whaling stations, Husvik, Stromness, and Leith, were linked by a rough track along the beach. During the whaling era, whalers from Stromness and Husvik would use it to get to Leith Harbour to use the cinema. The track can still be used, but in some places is rendered impassable by aggressively territorial fur seals during their breeding season (November and December). The freezer plant was dismantled and moved to

Grytviken Grytviken ( ) is a settlement on South Georgia in the South Atlantic and formerly a whaling station and the largest settlement on the island. It is located at the head of King Edward Cove within the larger Cumberland East Bay, considered the b ...

in 1960, and whaling operations at Husvik permanently ceased. Afterwards, scientists from the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

used the whaling managers' villa as a temporary shelter when doing work in the area until the mid-1990s. More recent inhabitants include the BSES expedition of December 2003, who used it as a base camp for a number of scientific and exploratory projects. As with Leith, Stromness, and

Prince Olav Harbour Prince Olav Harbour is a small harbour in the south west portion of Cook Bay, entered between Point Abrahamsen and Sheep Point, along the north coast of South Georgia. Background Throughout the 19th century, South Georgia was a sealers' base ...

, the whaling station has been declared by the South Georgia Government as being too dangerous to visit, due to the danger from collapsing buildings and

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

. Visitors must stay from the buildings and structures. Access to the Managers' Villa was prohibited in 2011 when the boundary of the 200m Prohibited Area was formalised in legislation. The jetty is within the 'danger area' so is not usable, and is in a very dilapidated state. A colony of blue-eyed shags nests on its end each year. In the southern summer of 2005/6, the South Georgia Heritage Trust hired a team of Norwegian craftsmen to restore some of the buildings at Husvik. In March 2006, the Manager's Villa, a building known as the "Radio Shack", and a small generator shed were successfully repaired and restored.

Admiralty Peak Admiralty Peak ( es, Pico Almirantazgo) is a peak, high, lying east of Wilckens Peaks in the central part of South Georgia. Charted by Discovery Investigations The Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based i ...

is close to the station. South of Husvik is a whaler's cemetery where 34 men were buried between 1924 and 1959.

External links

South Georgia Heritage Trust; Photos at Husvik
{{SGSSI Whaling stations of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

See also

External links