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South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Atlantic Ocean

In the southernmost point of the Atlantic Ocean are located amazing land of volcanic origin: South Georgia and the Sandwich Archipelago. What do we know about them? Where did these names come from, who is the discoverer and what are they remarkable about? Let's take a closer look at this piece of the Atlantic.

South Georgia: description and climate

South Georgia, or George - an island that looks like a paradise for penguins and seals, as well as the eponymous archipelago, which has 9 islands and 4 rocks. It is here that the largest colonies of these animals are located. The area of the island is more than 3,500 km 2 , and most of it is covered with tundra mosses and lichens. Harsh climatic conditions do not allow us to boast of beautiful natural landscapes.

Here, there are ocean meadows covered with shallow grass, and there are no tundra, trees and shrubs. Part of the island at an altitude of more than 300 meters above sea level is covered with glaciers and eternal ice. The very same land is not very friendly for people. Rocks, icy wind and constant cloudy weather with snow or shallow drizzle seduce nobody and certainly do not have to live on such an island. Therefore, only about 30 people live on it. The ocean around does not freeze, only closed bays for a while are at the mercy of ice.

South Sandwich Islands: description

What is this geographical object? If you pay attention to the Atlantic Ocean on the world map, then this archipelago is located in the southernmost part of it, at a distance of 570 km from George. By area it is the smallest archipelago in the ocean (total 310 km 2 ), consisting of 13 small land sections. The volcanic islands scattered by the arc are uninhabited rocks. However, not completely uninhabited. This corner of the globe is inhabited by fauna, adapted to severe subarctic conditions. As for people, the Sandwich Islands are of more interest only for biologists. The fact is that it is here that the largest number of albatrosses in the world live. Also these rocky beaches were chosen by seals, royal penguins and other inhabitants of the subarctic climate.

The largest island of the archipelago - Montague - is famous for its active volcanoes. The last time the eruption occurred in 2008. By hypothesis, the Sandwich Islands are a continuation of the Andes, located in South America. These lands are visited only by Arctic expeditions. In view of the proximity of cold currents, the subantarctic archipelago is icebound from May to early December.

History of the discovery

Under the assumptions, the island of South Georgia was opened in 1675 by a merchant named Anthony de la Rocher. He sailed from Chile to Brazil and on the way got into a violent storm, which threw him far to the east. The team was able to hide in the bay of an unknown island, thus becoming the discoverers. The land was named after Roche. Only 100 years later, in 1775, during his second journey, the famous James Cook came across this patch of land. He described the island and put it on the map. Further, following the British laws, the seafarer declared him the territory of Great Britain and gave him the name in honor of King George.

Then James Cook explored the Sandwich Islands, opening several small islands and calling them Sandwich Land, but a more detailed description of them appeared in 1819. Then the Lazarev-Bellingshausen expedition discovered six more small land sections. So the Atlantic Ocean on the world map replenished with another archipelago. Changes in his status occurred already at the beginning of the 20th century. The Sandwich Islands began to belong to Great Britain since 1908.

After the opening

So, in the asset there are new lands, and what to do with them - is unknown. Because of the harsh climate, life on newly discovered islands is practically impossible. The proximity of the Antarctic dictates its weather conditions: the temperature there in the summer does not rise above 5 degrees, and in winter it does not fall below 2 degrees below zero. And all would be nothing, but constant cold winds and cloudy weather reduce the perceived degrees to -10. There is nowhere to hide on the islands, so people sailed here only to hunt seals and fur seals.

But much has changed when the whaling began. Whaling fleets in search of prey swam to the very south of the Atlantic, and since 1904 on the island of South Georgia began to appear settlements. The founder of the first settlement Grytvikena became a Norwegian with British citizenship Karl Larsen.

Beginning of Whaling

Since 1904 on the island of George appeared seven fishing factories. Despite the harsh climate, the whalers flourished, and there were about 1,000 permanent residents. In Grytviken settled the governing body of the Argentine fishing company. All of them were located in sheltered bays on the northern coast of the island.

Worked in this company mainly Norwegians. The British Governor issued lease agreements to whalers. Despite the fact that England formed in 1909 near the whaling base Grytviken management center - King Edward Point, the archipelagos were governed by the Governor of the Falkland Islands.

War for territory

Argentina has never recognized the right of Britain to own South Georgia with the South Sandwich Islands. She made her claim, beginning in 1938. For some time in the middle of the 50s, Argentina had a summer base for Tenniente-Esquivel in Ferguson Bay on Tula island, located in the southern part of the Sandwich Islands. And beginning in 1976 and until 1982, the naval base of Corbet Uruguay was also located there. The British were well aware of the presence of Argentina in their overseas territory, but military methods were not taken to eliminate it.

Everything happened on March 19, 1982. Then a group of Argentines, who pretended to be scrap dealers, took an abandoned whaling base in the Gulf of Leith Harbor on South Georgia. And on April 3 stormed and captured Grytviken.

The British Marines regained the island on April 25, 1982. In the course of military operations, 13,000 British military men and 20,000 Argentines were involved. The defeat in this war led to a change of government in Argentina, and in Great Britain, the victory contributed to the growth of patriotism. One writer spoke about this war as follows: "A quarrel between two bald people because of a comb." And it was really a senseless war in which people died. Until 2001, at the base of King Edward Point was a small military garrison. At this time, the base returned to the disposal of the British Antarctic Service.

Islands today

To date, these volcanic islands are of great interest for scientific expeditions. On them in the summer time, meteorological studies are carried out and observations of colonies of unique birds are conducted. On the island of South Georgia, the only singing bird in Antarctica is the big horse. Also, there are many albatrosses, petrels, cormorants, gulls and terns, you can admire the handsome penguins and huge rookeries of walruses and seals.

In view of the volcanic activity in the Sandwich Islands, which has been observed since their discovery, people's lives on their territory are almost impossible. But here Antarctic expeditions are periodically located here. For some time, England planned the development of tourism business on the islands, but it is very expensive travel.

sights

Today on the island of South Georgia, in the village of Grytvikene, there is a museum in which you can get acquainted with the history of the archipelago. Some time ago, the destroyed whaling bases began to be rebuilt as local attractions. Also on the island are the famous polar explorer Ernest Shekelton and his assistant Frank Ould. But still the main attraction of these remote archipelagoes are the colonies of penguins and marine mammals. And near the Sandwich Islands you can watch the magnificent giants - whales. These are the most extreme islands of the Atlantic Ocean.

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