Georgia Isle

South Georgia is a long, mountainous island in the southern Atlantic, where glaciers descend toward a deeply indented coast. Penguins and seals gather along its shores, beneath peaks that are frequently covered in snow. The island lies far from the South American mainland, exposed to the cold seas and weather of the Southern Ocean.

In 1775 James Cook landed at Possession Bay and described the island and its abundant seals. Cook also recorded the glaciers that reached the sea and the great numbers of seabirds and marine mammals along the coast. His observations helped draw British and American sealing ships to its shores. During the following decades fur seals were taken on a vast scale, and by 1835 their population had collapsed after intensive hunting.