Friends of South Georgia Island

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Friends of South Georgia Island

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Friends of South Georgia Island is a non-profit organization located in Colorado, USA dedicated to raising funds for the protection and conservation of the sub-Antarctic Island of South Georgia.

06/21/2026

Happy Father’s Day to the dedicated dads of South Georgia, especially the Gentoo Penguin.

They help build the nest, take turns incubating the eggs, and share the hard work of raising their chicks. You’ll often see a Gentoo dad standing proudly over the nest, keeping the egg warm against the island’s winds or guarding the chick while the mother is out feeding.

Today, we celebrate all the fathers, grandfathers, and father figures help their families thrive just like the steadfast Gentoo Penguin!

Photo Cred: Marie Ann D'aloia

06/19/2026

Today, on World Albatross Day, we honor one of the most extraordinary seabirds on the planet: the Wandering Albatross. With the largest wingspan of any living bird – stretching up to an incredible 11 feet – this species is built for the open ocean, gliding thousands of miles with barely a wingbeat. Thanks to a technique called dynamic soaring, they use wind gradients over the ocean to stay aloft with almost no effort.

South Georgia is home to some of the most important breeding colonies of Wandering Albatrosses anywhere in the world. Each pair returns to these remote shores to raise a single chick, investing more than a year in its survival. Pairs form long‑term bonds, often lasting their entire lifetime. Their courtship includes bill clacking, sky‑pointing, synchronized calls, and wing spreading – it’s like a choreographed performance.

Do you have a favorite kind of albatross?

Photo Credit: Ewan Edwards

06/15/2026

Every rivet in the Whale Memorial tells a story.

By sponsoring one - perhaps in memory of someone or to celebrate a milestone - you help build a tribute that commemorates the whales' past and supports the future of South Georgia’s returning whales.

Become part of South Georgia’s extraordinary, ongoing story of recovery, by funding whale research that will help us protect them from future threats.

Learn more or sponsor a rivet: whalememorial.org/support-the-project/

Artist Michael Visocchi holding a large rivet with Mount Sugartop in the background.

Photo Cred: Michael Visocchi

06/12/2026

On This Day in South Georgia History: The First Landing on S**g Rocks (12 June 1956)

On 12 June 1956, glaciologist Mario B. Giovinetto became the first known person to land on S**g Rocks. Geological specimens were collected during the visit. Rising from the sea some 150 miles west of South Georgia, these six jagged pinnacles appear suddenly from the mist like the broken teeth of an ancient mountain range. Though the tallest reaches only 75 metres above the waves, they seem far larger as they erupt directly from the depths of the Scotia Sea.

The rocks are the exposed summits of the ancient Scotia Ridge, a geological link between South America and Antarctica. Their white appearance is not snow but the accumulated legacy of countless generations of seabirds. South Georgia S**gs, petrels, prions, and albatrosses have nested here for centuries, painting the dark stone with a brilliant white mantle visible for miles.

Small but immense in significance, S**g Rocks forms part of the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands territory and stands at the gateway to one of the richest marine ecosystems on Earth.

Information thanks to South Georgia historian R.K. Headland.
**gRocks **g

06/08/2026

On World Oceans Day, we’re celebrating the flourishing waters surrounding South Georgia - a vast space protected and stewarded by the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI).

SGSSI Marine Protected Area is over 478,766 square miles - an area five times the size of the UK and is one of the largest and most significant MPAs on Earth. They safeguard ecosystems that are globally important for populations of seabirds, seals, whales, and the krill that underpin the entire Southern Ocean food chain.

So today, we celebrate this commitment to protecting one of the world’s great ocean sanctuaries

06/05/2026

This World Environment Day, we’re celebrating the wild beauty of South Georgia Island and the elephant seals who call it home. Please consider donating here to safeguard this incredible place: https://www.fosgi.org/donation/

05/22/2026

110 years ago this week, the Endurance story turned towards rescue. When the James Caird finally reached South Georgia, John Vincent and Harry McNish were so gravely weakened by the voyage that Shackleton made the decision to leave them behind with Tim McCarthy in charge at a small, makeshift camp on the coast.

The crew hauled the James Caird ashore, turned her over, and transformed the upturned hull into a shelter. They named it Peggotty Camp, inspired by the Peggotty family in David Copperfield, who famously lived inside an overturned boat.

While Shackleton, Worsley and Crean crossed the island in search of help, the three men at Peggotty Camp endured uncertainty, waiting for a rescue they could only hope would come.

It did.

Norwegian whalers aboard the whale catcher Southern Sky eventually reached the camp and brought McNish, McCarthy and Vincent to safety - the first step on their long journey home aboard the Orwell.

Photo Cred: Launching the James Caird from the Shore of Elephant Island on 24 April, 1916 published in the United States in Ernest Shackleton's book South!

05/21/2026

On the wild and wind-scoured shores of South Georgia, an extraordinary chapter of polar history has just been safeguarded for the future.

The original Stromness Manager’s Villa — one of the most important surviving sites connected to Sir Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance — has now been successfully stabilised and preserved following months of intensive conservation work.

It was here, exactly 110 years ago on 20 May 1916, that Shackleton, Frank Worsley, and Tom Crean finally arrived after their legendary crossing of South Georgia, seeking rescue for the stranded men of Endurance after the ship was crushed in Antarctic ice.

With permission from the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands, this ambitious project was funded and carried out by the South Georgia Heritage Trust and Friends of South Georgia Island.

For over four demanding months at Stromness, the Saving Shackleton Heritage team worked carefully through extreme conditions to rescue the badly deteriorated structure. The project began with securing the site and safely removing hazardous asbestos materials before specialist builders and carpenters undertook the painstaking structural work needed to stabilize the villa and protect it for generations yet to come.

A century later, Shackleton’s footsteps still echo through South Georgia — and now this remarkable place has a future once again. Stay tuned to learn more about our plans for how you can imagine that day Shackleton shocked his friends at Stromness by virtually walking through this deeply historical building too.

Photo 1 & 2: Art Lewry, Photo 3: Scott Polar Research Institute- Courtesy of Alexandra Shackleton

🏔️🌍

05/15/2026

Step back in History at South Georgia Island. Between 1926 and 1930, several of South Georgia’s whaling stations built their own cinemas.

At Leith Harbour, the island’s largest cinema stood in a long, curved corrugated‑iron hut at the far south‑western end of the station. Separate from the factory and a short walk from the communal barracks, the trip there almost felt like “going out” — a rare luxury for men who spent months living and working in South Georgia.

Whalers signed up for cinema memberships at the start of each season and were issued their own cards (Grytviken’s even featured a penguin). Films circulated between stations, shuttled across Stromness Bay and Cumberland Bay by small motorboats carrying reels, messages and supplies.

Photo Credit: Projectionist at Work/Leith Kino/source Eric Stevenson
Membership Card Grytviken/South Georgia Museum

05/14/2026

The Southern Ocean is the world’s largest feeding ground for marine mammals and South Georgia sits at its heart.

This sub‑Antarctic island is a globally recognised biodiversity hotspot, surrounded by waters rich in Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). These tiny crustaceans sustain an entire ecosystem of seals, seabirds, fish - and, of course, whales.

During the austral summer, South Georgia becomes a vital feeding site for multiple whale species, some of which remain in these cold waters year‑round.
But it was these same whale movements that once drew whalers to the island’s abundant feeding grounds, with devastating consequences for whale populations.

📷 Deep sea pelagic life and detail of Antarctic Krill (Euphausia Superba) by Sir Alister Hardy, artist and scientist on the Discovery Investigations’ first voyage. Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Address

Friends Of South Georgia Island 25 Dakota Meadows Drive
Carbondale, CO
81623

Website

http://fosgi.org/

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