News

Online SGA Talk – 18 November 2021 – Saving Ocean Wanderers

13 September 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.

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.

Pathway to Protection – GSGSSI Announces Terrestrial Protected Area Management.

28 June 2021

The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands has released details of its strategy for managing the territory under the banner ‘Pathway to Protection’.

This will be a two-phased approach, involving the declaration of Terrestrial Protected Areas, and will treat two areas differently.

South Georgia and its surrounding islands will be managed so as to balance access with protection, very much along the lines of what already happens. The South Sandwich Islands will be closed to visitors, although there are already very few anyway, to preserve its even more unspoilt nature.

The Pathway to protection will be implemented in two phases. In phase I, the South Sandwich Islands will be closed to most visitors, and South Georgia will carry on much in the way it already does. Phase II will consist of information gathering and consultation, to gather the information needed to determine the need for, and the methods of implementing, more localised management plans.

An advisory group will be convened to help with this, including, we hope, representatives of the South Georgia Association.

Click Here to see More Information on the GSGSSI Website

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.

Morag Husband Campbell Medal 2021 – Awarded to Bob Headland

24 August 2021
MHC Medal
The Morag Husband Campbell Medal

The South Georgia Association is delighted to announce the award for the Morag Husband Campbell Medal for 2021 to Bob Headland, “For outstanding and sustained contributions to the history and knowledge of South Georgia and to extending the wider appreciation of the island“. The medal will be presented to Bob at the next live event, but a virtual presentation was made at the online AGM on 7 May 2021.

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Morag Husband Campbell Medal 2021 – Awarded to Bob HeadlandRead More »

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

April 2021 Newsletter Published

18 April 2021

The South Georgia Association’s April 2021 Newsletter has been published. Attached are the 2021 audited accounts summary and a cut-out-and-make model of the RRS James Clark Ross, which features in the Newsletter.

Members’ copies will be in the post soon and we will send you an email link for the digital version.

Older issues are free for anybody to download from the newsletters page of this website. (Now including last April’s Newsletter)
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Birdlife International Webinar Recording – ‘Protecting The Blue’

16 March 2021

Birdlife International held a webinar on 11 March 2021 to highlight their work to protect the high seas. In particular, do look out for the work they are doing to protect the albatrosses that breed on South Georgia. One of the speakers is Stephanie Prince, who spent time as a biologist at both Bird Island and King Edward Point, and is now High Seas Programme Manager at Birdlife International. The South Georgia Association’s Initiative Fund has recently contributed to their work in the Far East, engaging with Japanese fishers to try and reduce seabird mortality in their fishery.

See the webinar directly on YouTube or on our own YouTube Channel’s ‘Other People’s Clips‘ playlist and go on to spend the rest of the day browsing that!

SGA Talk – The A68 Iceberg at South Georgia

16 May 2021

The talk by Laura Gerrish and Sally Thorpe from the British Antarctic Survey that we held online on 25 February 2021 is now in our YouTube Channel. You can see it by selecting the ‘SGA Video Recordings’ option of the ‘Resources’ menu on our website,

or

Click here to go to the Video Recordings

Enjoy!

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

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