Thanks to your support, an incredible story of ecological renewal is unfolding at South Georgia. Wildlife populations are bouncing back, inspiring people around the world to take action for our planet.
In this month’s newsletter, we look at the progress of the Whalers' Memory Bank workshops, get an end-of-season update on the Hungry Humpbacks research team, share our new eCards for Father's Day, and share the next episode in our podcast from Commensalis artist Michael Visocchi.
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Green Match Fund: A Big Thank You! |
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Thanks to you and your generosity, we have exceeded this year’s South Georgia Heritage Trust Green Match Fund campaign target.
You’ve helped us to raise more than £23,000 so that SGHT can support priority conservation and research projects as well as tell the island’s inspiring story of ecological recovery more widely.
Every donation helps to protect and preserve South Georgia’s incredible wildlife for generations to come.
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Whalers & Public Help Shape New Memory Bank |
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Helen, our Community Engagement Officer |
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In June 2023, SGHT and the South Georgia Museum launched a project called The Whalers’ Memory Bank. Supported by funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project is about creating a living, growing digital time capsule where veterans of the whaling industry, their families and communities can come together to contribute and share their stories with a wider audience. |
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Since then, the South Georgia Museum has been busy collecting hundreds of stories, photographs and memorabilia from the former whaling communities - the response has been amazing. But we want to make sure we tell these stories in a way that captures everyone’s imagination. Presenting stories in a way the former whaling communities want to see, but also in a way that appeals to a wider audience so they can understand this important slice of Scottish social history.
That is why in May we were delighted to be hosted by Shetland Museum and the Shetland Amenity Trust as we ran a number of workshop and drop-in sessions with former whalers and their families, as well as conversations with the general public.
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On Saturday 11 May, we had two great workshops with whalers and their families and we facilitated discussions that focused on what the whaling community would like the world to know about whaling and how best we can capture these stories. Hearing first hand from the whalers was a great experience and led to many interesting discussions.
On Sunday 12 May the focus was a drop-in event in the Boat Hall of the wonderful Shetland Museum and Archives, a beautiful space to work in. Here we asked visitors to the museum about their thoughts on whaling to help us gain an understanding of how people with a general interest might engage with the Memory Bank. It was an interesting contrast to the previous day, as many of those visiting did not know much about the whaling industry. This allows us to understand how various audiences could interact with our digital time capsule when it goes live.
After that we visited two more Shetland locations, the Whiteness and Weisdale Hall and the Mid Yell Hall. Running these events in the heart of communities, out of the main town of Lerwick gave people an opportunity to come and visit us who couldn’t make it to the museum. We had some great conversations with people with a general interest who wanted to find out more and also welcomed a few ex-whalers.
Overall, the events were a great success and we really appreciate those who came to speak to us. All of these conversations will help us to shape the Whalers’ Memory Bank and create a great resource for everyone. We are excited to be running two further days in June, kindly hosted by the Scottish Fisheries Museum and Scottish Maritime Museum.
Read more about the project here.
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Attendees from the first workshop |
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Attendees from the second workshop |
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Hungry Humpbacks Field Season Ends |
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Hungry Humpbacks Team: Jen Jackson, Stephanie Martin, Amy Kennedy, Fredrick Christiansen, Nico Lewin, Joanna Kershaw, Henry Slesser, Penny Clarke, Bob Pratt, AJ Houston and Louie Day. |
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This summer an international team of researchers worked on the British Antarctic Survey led research project “Hungry Humpbacks: Measuring seasonal foraging intensity at South Georgia.” You helped to support this project which received funds from the South Georgia Heritage Trust, Friends of South Georgia Island, and was also supported with a Darwin Plus grant for UK Overseas Territories.
Whales are the largest krill predators in South Georgia (SG), yet their impacts on krill stocks are poorly understood. Recent whale surveys have revealed high summer abundance and extended use of SG waters into winter, which coincides with use by a krill fishery. To better understand how whales impact krill, this project measures how whale foraging intensity varies across the feeding season in SG. This is achieved using drones to measure body conditions and satellite tracking of diving rates to measure season-specific krill consumption.
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Nico Lewin carries equipment through the valley between Maiviken Hut and Maiviken Bay. Photo by Penny Clarke. |
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The summer season was split into two survey efforts based at King Edward Point (KEP). From mid-November 2023 until mid-January, a drone pilot, Nico Lewin, and assistant, Penny Clarke, surveyed from the cliffs off Sappho Point and used the Maiviken Hut for overnight stays on several occasions. This involved 14 km round-trip hikes carrying heavy equipment in challenging weather conditions.
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The six-person boat-based team arrived at KEP in mid-January with five scientists and one dedicated jet boat driver. They were supported by the two KEP boaties when conducting surveys further afield, from Stromness to St. Andrews, but used the RIBS (rigid inflatable boats) in more local waters. Most whales were sighted in January and February before the breakup of the vast iceberg D-30A to the north, which brought large tabular icebergs close to shore and into in the team’s survey area. |
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The team had a very busy season! Over 2,200 km of visual transect data were conducted and 34 cetacean sightings were recorded during the field season. Drone images and identification photos were collected from Humpback Whales, Southern Right Whales, Antarctic Blue Whales, Fin Whales, and Antarctic Killer Whales. Biopsy samples for genetic, hormone, and isotype analysis were collected from Humpback Whales, Southern Right Whales, and an Antarctic Blue Whale. |
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Boat team survey tracks and whale sightings |
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Drone images of a Humpback Whale, Southern Right Whale mother and calf, and Antarctic Blue Whale mother and calf. |
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A particular highlight was 12 February, when the team observed a Southern Right Whale mother and calf plus an Antarctic Blue Whale mother and calf within two miles of each other!
The main focus species for the season was Humpback Whales, but the swell conditions were too rough to attempt any satellite tagging when Humpback Whales were encountered. The team successfully tagged a Southern Right Whale (named “Disco” after Discovery House, where the team stayed at KEP) on 9 March. The tag continues to transmit, and Disco’s movement can be followed on their website. You can see more highlights on their Instagram page: @hungryhumpbacks.
Now that the South Georgia fieldwork has finished, the team is back at BAS in Cambridge, busy analysing all the data. An ambitious season contributed to the overall project aim of obtaining scientific evidence to improve the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Island's capability to sustainably manage its krill fishery by incorporating the level of impact that whales, the largest krill predators, have on the fishery.
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Whale Songs: A Sculptor's Journey to South Georgia |
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Listen to our podcast as we accompany artist Michael Visocchi during his first journey to South Georgia and share his insights to the island.
Each month, the episodes follow his creative process for the monumental artwork Commensalis: The Spirit Tables of South Georgia.
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In this episode, Michael takes a tour of Grytviken and meets some of the inhabitants, accompanied by Marine biologist Jamie Colman. Michael finds out why South Georgia is known as the Serengeti of the Southern Ocean, with the densest concentration of marine mammals and birds on the planet. |
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Commensalis will commemorate the loss and celebrate the recovery of whales at South Georgia. It will be a beacon of hope for everyone who cares about nature as well as supporting vital research to protect the future of whales in the Southern Ocean.
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Send one of our brand new eGreetings cards to the father figure in your life on 16 June - it’s an easy and environmentally friendly way to support South Georgia.
One donation gives you up to 100 Father's Day cards to send by email so why not share one with the important men in your life?
Explore our brilliant card options now here.
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Follow us on your favourite platform to find out so much more about South Georgia and the activities of SGHT
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