Sam (editor)

Over the next six weeks 12 students will be taking part in the 2007 British Schools’ Exploring Society (BSES) Antarctica expedition exploring and carrying out scientific experiments, and posting their experiences here.

Right now the expeditionaries are about to set sail for the islands of South Georgia .South Georgia has no permanent residents, just a handful of scientists, a British Government Officer, a museum curator and a Postmaster. Here’s how the island is described on its website:

The Sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia is “breathtaking beautiful and a sight on an early spring day not easily forgotten” (Niall Ranken 1946). It is long and narrow, shaped like a huge,curved, fractured and savaged whale bone, some 170 kilometres long and varying from 2 to 40 kilometres wide. Two mountain ranges (Allardyce and Salvesen) provide its spine, rising to 2,934 metres at Mount Paget’s peak (Eleven peaks exceed 2,000metres). Huge glaciers, ice caps and snowfields cover about 75% of the island in the austral summer (November to January); in winter (July to September) a snow blanket reaches the sea. The island then drops some 4,000 metres to the sea floor.

Probably due to its lack of human inhabitants, South Georgia also supports a rich variety of wildlife. There are albatross and various species of penguin, including a large colony of King Penguins. The South Georgia Pipit is the only land species of bird, and is unique to South Georgia. Seals and Reindeer (introduced early in the 20th century) can also be found on the island.