Husvik
Encyclopedia
Stromness Bay
Stromness Bay is a bay wide, entered between Cape Saunders and Busen Point on the north coast of South Georgia.Stromness Bay, like Leith Harbour takes its name from a location in Scotland, Stromness, on the Orkney Mainland...
, the other two being Stromness
Stromness (South Georgia)
Stromness is a former whaling station on the northern coast of South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic. Its historical significance is that it represents the destination of Ernest Shackleton's epic rescue journey in 1916. See also Stromness Bay...
and Leith Harbour
Leith Harbour
Leith Harbour , also known as Port Leith, was a whaling station up on the northeast coast of South Georgia, established and operated by Christian Salvesen Ltd, Edinburgh. The station was in operation from 1909 until 1965. It was the largest of seven whaling stations, situated near the mouth of...
. Husvik initially began as a floating, offshore factory site in 1907. In 1910, a land station was constructed and remained operational until 1930; business resumed again between 1945 and 1960. Husvik Harbour was also the site of the third introduction of Reindeer
Reindeer in South Georgia
Reindeer in South Georgia are an example of an animal which has been introduced outside its native range. The reindeer, a species of deer adapted to arctic and subarctic climates, was introduced to the subantarctic island of South Georgia by Norwegian whalers in the early 20th century...
to South Georgia in 1925.
The three whaling stations, Husvik, Stromness and Leith were linked by a rough track along the beach. During the whaling era, whalers from Stromness and Husvik would use it to get to Leith Harbour to use the cinema. The track can still be still used, but in some places is rendered impassable by aggressively territorial fur seals during their breeding season (November and December).
The freezer plant was dismantled and moved to Grytviken
Grytviken
Grytviken is the principal settlement in the British territory of South Georgia in the South Atlantic. It was so named in 1902 by the Swedish surveyor Johan Gunnar Andersson who found old English try pots used to render seal oil at the site. It is the best harbour on the island, consisting of a...
in 1960, and whaling operations at Husvik permanently ceased. Afterwards, scientists from the British Antarctic Survey
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation and has an active role in Antarctic affairs. BAS is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and has over 400 staff. It operates five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica....
used the whaling managers' villa as a temporary shelter when doing work in the area up until the mid 1990s. More recent inhabitants include the BSES
BSES Expeditions
-History:BSES Expeditions is one of the longest-running and most distinctive youth development charities of its kind. Based at the Royal Geographical Society, BSES Expeditions was founded in 1932, by an original member of Captain Scott's final Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13, Surgeon Commander...
expedition of December 2003, who used it as a base camp for a number of scientific and exploratory projects.
As with Leith, Stromness, and Prince Olav Harbour
Prince Olav Harbour
Prince Olav Harbour is small harbour in the south west portion of Cook Bay, entered between Point Abrahamsen and Sheep Point, along the north coast of South Georgia.-Background:...
, the whaling station has been declared by the South Georgia Government as being too dangerous to visit, due to the danger from collapsing buildings and asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
. Visitors must stay 200 m (656 ft) from the buildings and structures. Access to the Managers' Villa was prohibited in 2011 when the boundary of the 200m Prohibited Area was formalised in legislation.
The jetty is within the 200 m (656 ft) 'danger area' so is not usable, and is in a very dilapidated state. A colony of Blue-eyed shags nests on its end each year.
In the southern summer of 2005/6, the South Georgia Heritage Trust hired a team of Norwegian craftsmen to restore some of the buildings at Husvik. In March 2006, the Manager's Villa, a building known as the "Radio Shack" and a small generator shed were successfully repaired and restored.
South of Husvik is a whaler's cemetery where 34 men were buried between 1924 and 1959.