Larsen Harbour ( es, Bahía Larsen) is a narrow long inlet of indenting volcanic rocks and sheeted dykes known as the Larsen Harbour Formation. It is a branch of

Drygalski Fjord Drygalski Fjord is a bay wide which recedes northwestwards , entered immediately north of Nattriss Head along the southeast coast of South Georgia. It was charted by the Second German Antarctic Expedition, 1911–12, under Wilhelm Filchner, an ...

, entered west-northwest of

Nattriss Head Drygalski Fjord is a bay wide which recedes northwestwards , entered immediately north of Nattriss Head along the southeast coast of South Georgia Island, South Georgia. It was charted by the Second German Antarctic Expedition, 1911–12, under ...

, at the southeast end 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 charted by the

Second German Antarctic Expedition The Second German Antarctic Expedition of 1911–1913 was led by Wilhelm Filchner in the exploration ship . Its principal objective was to determine whether the Antarctic continent comprised a single landmass rather than separated elements, and i ...

, 1911–12, under

Filchner Wilhelm Filchner (13 September 1877 – 7 May 1957) was a German army officer, scientist and explorer. He conducted several surveys and scientific investigations in China, Tibet and surrounding regions, and led the Second German Antarctic Expeditio ...

, who named it for Captain

Carl Anton Larsen Carl Anton Larsen (7 August 1860 – 8 December 1924) was a Norway, Norwegian-born Whaling, whaler and Antarctic explorer who made important contributions to the exploration of Antarctica, the most significant being the first discovery of fos ...

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

explorer, who made significant contributions to the exploration of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. The most significant of these was the first discovery of

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

on the continent, for which he received the Back Grant from the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. Larsen is also considered the founder of the Antarctic

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

industry and the settlement and whaling station of

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 ...

, South Georgia. The peaks and mountain crests surrounding the almost land-locked harbour was described by Sir Ernest Shackleton's photographer Frank Hurley as "most beautiful and exceeding all in grandeur even that of

Milford Sound Milford Sound / Piopiotahi is a fiord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. It has been judged the world's top tra ...

". The Niall Rankin expedition aboard the ''Albatross'', spent some time here as they studied the

Weddell seal The Weddell seal (''Leptonychotes weddellii'') is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. The Weddell seal was discovered and named in the 1820s during expeditions led by British sealing ...

colony before going on to

Esbensen Bay Esbensen Bay is a small bay southwest of Nattriss Head, along the southeast end of South Georgia. It was charted by the Second German Antarctic Expedition, 1911–12, under Filchner, and was named for Captain Viktor Esbensen, manager of the Comp ...

. The area is rat-free, allowing species such as the

South Georgia pipit The South Georgia pipit (''Anthus antarcticus'') is a sparrow-sized bird only found on the South Georgia archipelago off the Antarctic Peninsula. It is the only songbird in Antarctica, South Georgia's only passerine, and one of the few non-seab ...

, and burrowing

petrel Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. Description The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...

s and

prions Prions are misfolded proteins that have the ability to transmit their misfolded shape onto normal variants of the same protein. They characterize several fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases in humans and many other animals. It i ...

to thrive. Mountains descend steeply into the sea here, and various glaciers calve into the sea.

Named locations

Hash Island lies in the entrance of the harbor. It was roughly surveyed by the German Antarctic Expedition of 1911–12, and probably named by

Discovery Investigations The Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based investigations into the biology of whales in the Southern Ocean. They were funded by the British Colonial Office and organised by the Discovery Committee in London, wh ...

personnel who re-surveyed it in 1927. Williams Cove is a small

cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

in the north side of Larsen Harbor. The south point of its entrance is called Scoresby Point. Both names were first used on a 1929

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

chart.

Mount Clara Mount Clara () is a summit (topography), peak rising to about to the east of Mount Normann and south of Larsen Harbour, in southeast South Georgia Island, South Georgia. It was charted and named by Discovery Investigations personnel in 1927. Re ...

and

Mount Normann Mount Normann () is a mountain, 1,240 m (4061 ft), standing 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Smaaland Cove at the south end of South Georgia. The feature has appeared on charts since the 1930s. It was surveyed by the SGS in the period 1951 ...

are found inland to the south of Larsen Harbour and

Bonner Beach Bonner Beach () is a small, flat beach on the south shore of Larsen Harbor in the southeast part of South Georgia. It is the only place in South Georgia where Weddell seals breed. The area was mapped by DI personnel in 1927 and by the South Georg ...

is on the south shore of the harbour.

Named locations

References

Further reading