Past Events

Online SGA Talk – 18 November 2021 – Saving Ocean Wanderers

19 November 2021

The South Georgia Association is pleased to present another online talk on Thursday 18 November 2021.

Who and What:

Saving Ocean Wanderers – why Japan is important in the fight to save South Georgia albatross, with Steph Prince and Yasuko Suzuki.

Richard Phillips, Seabird Foodweb Ecologist at the British Antarctic Survey will compere and ask your questions.

Steph Prince is the High Seas Programme Manager for the BirdLife Marine Programme, leading projects to reduce seabird bycatch in global tuna fisheries around the world. She was previously a Zoological Field Assistant for the British Antarctic Survey, wintering at both Bird Island and King Edward Point.

Yasuko Suzuki is the Japan Marine Programme Office for BirdLife International, leading engagement work with the Japanese fishing industry, government, the tuna supply chain and the Japanese public to reduce seabird bycatch in distant water High Seas fleets.

Despite protections being put in place to stop albatrosses and other seabirds being accidentally killed in South Georgia waters in the early 2000’s, albatross populations continue to decline to this day. Since 2004 BirdLife International have been working to reduce albatross bycatch on the High Seas, where less protection for seabirds has been in place. Tracking studies have shown where conservation efforts need to be concentrated, and which fleets pose the greatest risk. Japan is one of the countries that has the potential to make the biggest difference to albatross conservation and so Yasuko is working to engage the fishing industry and public to make the oceans safer for South Georgia albatross.

The SGA supported this project with our Initiative Fund. More details HERE.

REGISTER HERE

Where: The Comfort of your own Home, via Zoom

When: 1930 GMT on Thursday 18 November 2021

Cost: Free

Registration Details will be distributed to members by email nearer the time, after which they will be posted here and on our FaceBook page.

Online SGA Talk – 12 August 2021 – The Shackleton Crossing by a Repeat Offender

12 August 2021

The South Georgia Association is pleased to present another online talk on Thursday 12 August 2021.

Who and What:

The Shackleton Crossing by a Repeat Offender: Since taking part in the IMAX film ‘Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure’ in 2000, Stephen Venables has followed Shackleton’s route from King Haakon Bay to Stromness no less than four times, with a fifth crossing scheduled for 2022. He will describe the route and some of the peaks he has climbed along the way. His pictures will also highlight drastic changes to the landscape since 1916.

The Crossing in its setting: Following Stephen’s graphic description of following in Shackleton’s footsteps, Bob Burton will describe the hazardous arrival of the crew of the James Caird at South Georgia and their landing in Cave Cove. He will then take up the story again as Shackleton, Worsley and Crean arrive at Stromness and recover from their ordeal.

Where: The Comfort of your own Home, via Zoom

When: 1930 BST (1830 GMT/UTC) on Thursday 12 August 2021

Cost: Free

Click Here to Register for the Talk

Registration Details have been sent by email to SGA members. If you have not received that, you can click this button.

Sealing Archaeology talk is online

28 June 2021

We recorded the online talk on sealing archaeology by Marcus Britain and Bob Burton that we held on 20 May 2021.

Click Here to see the talk.

Online SGA Talk – 20 May 2021

22 May 2021

The South Georgia Association in association with the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT) are pleased to present another online talk on Thursday 20 May 2021.

Who: Marcus Brittain from the University of Cambridge will tell us about the recent SGHT Archaeology Expedition to the island to investigate the historic sealing sites. Bob Burton from the SGHT will also be there to tell us a little about what the fur seals were used for, and why they were hunted so far away.

Where: The Comfort of your own Home, via Zoom

When: 1930 BST (1830 GMT/UTC) on Thursday 20 May 2021

Cost: Free

REGISTER HERE for the talk

The Whale’s Tale – Online Talk 3 March 2021

4 March 2021

The South Georgia Heritage Trust and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust are holding a joint talk at 1900-2100 GMT on Wednesday March 3 2021. Three of the world’s experts in the study and conservation of whales in the Southern Ocean will discuss the history, science and current efforts to conserve these important species on our planet. The speakers are:

  • Bjørn Basberg, Norwegian School of Economics
  • Ted Cheeseman, Southern Cross University
  • Jennifer Jackson, British Antarctic Survey

And the event is free, though donations to the two charities would be welcome.

Click HERE for more details and to register

Gilbert White Shackleton Talk Online – 4 March

7 March 2021

An online talk on Shackleton has been organised by the Gilbert White and Oates Collection. Shackleton’s Endurance Adventure – revisited will be presented on 4 March at 1900 GMT by John Dudeney OBE and costs £5.

“This talk provides a new historical perspective on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s amazing adventure in the Weddell Sea – of brave hopes, hopes dashed, shipwreck and castaway, and ultimate survival. But in doing so, it will draw on previously unknown information from a century ago held in the UK National Archives which was recently uncovered by the speaker and his co-workers. The documents so discovered throw a rather different light the behaviour of both Shackleton and the British Government than the popular accounts provide. This is particularly the case concerning the attempts to find out what had happened to Shackleton and his men, and then, when he reappeared in the Falklands, to rescue the castaways on Elephant Island. It will also bring the “forgotten” men of the Ross Sea party into the limelight.”

More Details and Tickets HERE

Online SGA Talk – 25 February 2021

26 February 2021

The South Georgia Association is organising another talk at 1900 GMT on Thursday 25 February, when Laura Gerrish and Sally Thorpe from the British Antarctic Survey will bring us up to date with the huge A68 iceberg that recently approached South Georgia.

Register to View

Click Here to Register

Online Talks No. Two – 9 September 2020

17 September 2020

Toothfish, Construction and Good Riddance to Rats

Following the success of our online talk – Whales, Mountains and Penguins – in June, we are holding another one. We are repeating the successful format of three short talks followed by questions from the ‘floor’. The event will be hosted via the online platform Zoom. For those unfamiliar with Zoom, we can forward instructions on how to download and use the app if requested.

Place: The comfort of your own home. SGA Members will be contacted by email with registration details. We will also keep you updated here, and on the FaceBook page.

Date: Wednesday 9 September 2020

Time: 7PM (1800 GMT for overseas participants )

How to Take Part: Email the communications editor HERE or use the form BELOW by Monday 7 September to register your interest and we will send you the link.

The meeting invitation will be sent out on Tuesday 8 September to the email address you have provided.

NB – you do not need to ‘sign up’ to a Zoom account in order to attend this meeting.

Tell your friends: Please feel welcome to invite non-members to participate – the more the merrier! (There is a maximum audience of 300 people).

The Speakers

The Fishing Industry and Science in the South Georgia Toothfish Fishery


Peter Thomson (Argos)

Building Infrastructure on a Small Island – the New KEP Wharf


Joe Corner (BAS)

Confirming the Eradication of Rodents from South Georgia.


Pat Lurcock

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