Abandoned Whaling Station

[Anthony]

The whaling station in Strømness, South Georgia, was abandoned in 1965.  It is in a dangerous state, both because of the buildings and because of pollution, and visitors are not allowed within 200 metres of the place except with a special permit.

The fur seals seem to like it.

[Anthony]

Some more.

[Bjørn J]

Traces of Norwegians everywhere... We almost exterminated the blue whale
Must be very interesting to visit such places. Is this far from Grytviken?

[Erik Lund]

Wow looks like a cool place to hang out and shoot some more images, these are great!

[Jakov Minić]

How do you get there
The photos are illustrating the place nicely!

[Tristin]

I'd be shooting there pronto.  It's only illegal if you get caught. 

[Hugh_3170]

Anthony, great images and thank you for sharing them with us.  From this and some of your other postings from the South Atlantc it seems as if you have had the trip of a lifetime on this journey.  I confess to being more than a little green with envy! 

On a positive note, although the images are depressing, it is interesting that nature and the elements are reclaiming the site as their own.

[Frank Fremerey]

Looks like those big seals took over the place....

[Anthony]

Thank you all for your comments.

Bjørn, Grytviken is a couple of hours by ship down the coast.  Some photos of that coming up.

Jacov, the normal route is two days on a ship from the Falkland Islands.  It is quite remote.

Tristin, you might worry if a fur seal gets you.  They are large, strong and fast, and attack humans without provocation or warning!  Grytviken has been decontaminated, and is a safer derelict whaling station.

Hugh, it was a great trip.  I am sure you are right, nature will reclaim it, as I do not think that funds are available to clean it up.

Frank, see my comments above on the fur seals!

[rosko]

Thanks for this series, Anthony !

of course, as I am passionate about geography, I had a look on Google maps to learn more. Very interesting.

Off topic : I discovered on the same time a very tiny volcanic island, Tristan da Cunha, an English possession, between South Georgia and South Africa, which I didn't even know...with it's 260 inhabitants capital : Edinburgh of seven seas !
 

[Akira]

Never heard of the South Georgia South Sandwich islands!  Google search revealed that there is another Strømness to the north of Scotland.

Anyway, the haunting facility looks very photogenic and surreal.  Thanks for sharing, Anthony.

[simato73]

Thanks for this series, Anthony !

of course, as I am passionate about geography, I had a look on Google maps to learn more. Very interesting.

Off topic : I discovered on the same time a very tiny volcanic island, Tristan da Cunha, an English possession, between South Georgia and South Africa, which I didn't even know...with it's 260 inhabitants capital : Edinburgh of seven seas !
 

Southern ocean islands are fascinating, especially the remote subantarctic ones.
My favourites are the Kerguelen archipelago, also known as Desolation Islands.
South Georgia is definitely round the corner compared to it.
And yet... you can find pictures of Kerguelen on Google Earth.

Back to the topic: great photos Anthony, I wish I had the time and money for a trip like that.
There are some fantastic B&W pictures by Salgado from there (published in his book Genesis). Have you tried to do some as B&W's?

[Anthony]

Rosko, Akira, Simone, thank you for your comments.

I am sure that there are some good B&Ws there, but I still have a backlog in my processing folder!

[elsa hoffmann]

Fascinating - the seals lying about really is a tad surreal for me.
Your images are really great

[Anthony]

Thank you, Elsa.