Past Events
Online SGA Talk – 20 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
The Whale’s Tale – Online Talk 3 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.
Gilbert White Shackleton Talk Online – 4 March
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.”
Online SGA Talk – 25 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
Online Talk No. 3 – Thursday 26 November 2020
Drones, Dias and Government
The SGA is pleased to announce a third evening of talks.
…Online Talks No. Two – 9 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
SGA Online Talks – Whales Penguins and Mountains
Thursday 25 June 2020
The South Georgia Association is pleased to present three talks on Thursday 25 June 2020 using the Zoom online platform. Three speakers will each give a short talk of approximately twenty minutes as follows:
…POSTPONED: SGA Annual General Meeting
The next Annual General Meeting of the South Georgia Association will be held on HQS Wellington, on the Victoria Embankment in London, on Friday 8 May 2020. This is a new venue, after many years at the Royal Overseas League. More Details to follow in due course. See the HQS Wellington Website for more information about the venue.
UPDATE: The Meeting was cancelled, but the Committee did hold an AGM online, which all agreed was a success.
Ice Tracks: Shackleton’s Final Quest Voyage
The South Georgia Association is delighted to notify our members of the Shackleton’s Final Quest voyage that has been scheduled for February 2022.
Organised by Ice Tracks Expeditions in collaboration with our friends at the James Caird Society, this spectacular voyage on the the newly launched MS Seaventure will pay tribute to the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration. The voyage is timed as a commemoration of the centenary of Shackleton’s final voyage south – the Shackleton-Rowett Antarctic Expedition (1921-22), commonly known as the Quest Expedition. Shackleton’s sudden death on the voyage on 5 January 1922 was a defining moment in the Antarctic age of heroism, which still resonates today.
The 20-day itinerary features the Falklands, South Georgia and a number of sites in the peninsula and surrounding islands, including (weather permitting) Elephant Island. Guests will also have the opportunity to fly on to Buenos Aires and cross the Rio Plata to Montevideo, the city that gave Shackleton a hero’s funeral.
For those that may be interested in the trip, Ice Tracks is offering an early bird discount of 15% off for anyone putting down a £500 refundable deposit by 29 February. This will secure a berth until 5 August 2020.
For further details, including a detailed itinerary, kit requirements and costings, please visit the Ice Tracks website HERE: and download a leaflet with more information here
Ice Tracks 2020 Flyer (458.54 KB)