Past Events

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

POSTPONED: SGA Annual General Meeting

21 June 2020

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

13 March 2023

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)

Advance Notice of Autumn Event

26 June 2020

The South Georgia Association’s Autumn event this year will be in association with the Devon and Cornwall Polar Society and it will be held at theDuke of Cornwall Hotel, Plymouth on the 19 October. Special rates for the nights of 18 and 19 October will be available for those attending the event. The hotel is well known for its connections with Sir Ernest Shackleton.

The morning of the 19th will be free with opportunities to visit the Scott Memorial, Scott’s birthplace and other attractions such as the Plymouth Marine Aquarium. The afternoon programme will include presentations on:

  • The work of the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) since Hardy’s work at South Georgia in the 1920s to the present, by David Johns of SAHFOS
  • Remote medicine at South Georgia and the Antarctic, by Drs Daranee Boon and Ian Grant (both formerly of the BAS Medical Unit)
  • Speaker and title to be confirmed

Throughout Saturday there will be an exhibition of paintings of South Georgia by Theo Crutchley-Mack who was recently Artist in Residence at South Georgia funded by the South Georgia Heritage Trust. There will also be an exhibition of photographs of South Georgia wildlife by Oli Prince who has spent several seasons on the Island.

In the evening there will be a reception followed by dinner at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel.
Full details including costs and booking details will be available here soon.

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