South Georgia Island |
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South Georgia is the largest island in the archipelago known as the South Sandwich Islands located in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The British laid claim to the island in 1775, a claim which has since been hotly disputed by Argentina and was a contributing factor in the 1982 Falklands War. The island served as a whaling and sealing station for many years. There is no native population, and the only present inhabitants are a handful of government administrators and scientists. South Georgia supports a great number of sea birds, including albatross, a large colony of King Penguins and penguins of various other species, along with petrels, prions, shags, skuas, gulls and terns. There is only one land species which is unique to the archipelago however, the South Georgia Pipit. Seals are frequent on the islands, and whales may be seen in the surrounding waters. There are no native land mammals, though reindeer, introduced early in the 20th century, live on the island. Native vegetation on South Georgia is limited to grasses, mosses, lichens, ferns and a few other small flowering plants. A number of other introduced species have become naturalized. There are no trees or shrubs. There are no airstrips on the island and the only way to reach it is by boat, most often as part of a tourist trip to Antarctica.
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