What I’ve been reading | Winter 21/22

South Georgia

The enormous hole that whaling left behind

Whales are ecosystem engineers, and the devastating impact of the whaling industry in the 20th century had a cascading impact through the entirety of the southern ocean food web.

Blue whale sightings off South Georgia raise hopes of recovery

An old article from the Guardian sharing the hope of increasing blue whale sightings around the South Georgia archipelago as signs of the recovery of the species and of the ecosystem.

Life, then Death, on a Trawler in Freezing Antarctic Seas

Matt Lewis discusses his experience as a Southern Ocean fisheries observer, and the events surrounding the loss of the Sudur Havid and ten of her crew in the waters off South Georgia in the winter toothfish season.

Now Shackleton’s Endurance has been found, who determines what happens to the famous shipwreck?

The excitement surrounding the discovery of the wreck of the Endurance leads to interesting questions surrounding the protection and preservation of heritage in extreme environments.

A Portrait of South Georgia: Abundance, Exploitation, Recovery

The slow road to recovery in the ecological restoration of the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, as witnessed over the last 40 years by field ecologist Sally Poncet.

15 interesting facts about Antarctica

A series of interesting facts about Antarctica that I uncovered during my research.

Earth’s southernmost continent held us in its thrall long before it was first sighted in January 1820, still just a blank space on the map.  The limitless solitude and silence, the vastness of scale, occupying mythical space in our imagination.  Even now, with the possibility to visit the continent as a tourist, we are drawn by the idea of blankness, the purity of a landscape without the cultural associations of our own, where we can make our own connections and add new pins to the map.

I’ve done a large amount of research recently to familiarise myself with Antarctica: the short human history and tales of exploration; ecosystems and wildlife; the rock and the ice; the striking natural beauty of the continent.  In the process, I’ve uncovered more than a few interesting facts on which to hang my own understanding and experience, and I’m sharing the best of them here.

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