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King George Island
HMS Endurance recently paid an informal base visit to the Chinese research station on King George Island called Chang Cheng/Great Wall.
434 at Great Wall research station
King George Island is the largest of the South Shetland Islands, situated at 62º 23’ S 58º 27’ W, 120 km off the coast of Antarctica in the Southern Ocean. The island was named after King George III.
The island was discovered by the British explorer William Smith in 1819. It is approximately 95 km long and 25 km wide with a land area of 1150 sq km. Over 90% of the island’s surface is glaciated.
The coastal areas of the island are home to Elephant Seals, Weddell and Leopard seals, and Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins.
Human activities on King George Island started as early as 1819 with the first sealers arriving. In 1821, 11 men of the sealing vessel Lord Melville survived the winter on the island, the first men to do so in Antarctica. After a few years the fur seal and sea elephant populations were almost completely extinguished on the island. At the beginning of the twentieth century whalers used the island's natural harbours and sheltered beaches and on many of these still a lot of whale bones can be found.
Lt Scott `Stimpy’ Simpson getting directions
King George Island has also the greatest concentration of multinational research activities in Antarctica with bases belonging to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Korea, Poland, Russia, Uruguay and China. The island also has an airstrip maintained by the Chilean airforce.
Captain Nick Lambert and Lt Scott `Stimpy’ Simpson
Timmy, penguin friend and Lt Scott `Stimpy’ Simpson
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