Whaling ends at South Georgia

Subjects

• Grytviken Whaling Station · site · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK overseas territory)
• South Georgia · region · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK overseas territory)
• Antarctic Blue Whale (B. m. intermedia) · species · Southern Ocean and adjacent temperate South Atlantic, Indian and Pacific sectors · not located

Evidence

Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent. This is the standing of the weakest source, not an average.

• Whaling stations of South Georgia

  The first shore whaling station on South Georgia was established by Carl Anton Larsen at Grytviken in 1904; whaling began there on 16 November 1904 and the whale-oil factory started production on 24 December 1904. Grytviken operated until 1965, first under the Compania Argentina de Pesca and later under Albion Star, and during this period South Georgia was the principal location for land-based whaling in the Southern Hemisphere. V55 verification basis: retrieved in search summary attributed to the territorial government and museum records; neither page was fetched.

  Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands · accessed 2026-08-08 · Partly verified

  https://gov.gs/whaling-stations/ ; with the South Georgia Museum record for Grytviken, https://sgmuseum.gs/the-museum/grytviken/

• South Georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling

  Industrial whaling off South Georgia between 1904 and 1971 killed 42,698 blue whales there; more than 34,000 km of systematic survey between 1998 and 2018 produced only a single blue whale sighting; a 2020 survey using visual line transects and DIFAR sonobuoys produced 58 blue whale sightings from 2,430 km of visual effort with 23 individuals photo-identified, and 41 individuals were photo-identified from South Georgia in total between 2011 and 2020. V55 verification basis: these figures were returned in the search result carrying the journal abstract and attributed to this paper.

  Endangered Species Research (Inter-Research); Calderan, Black, Branch, Collins, Kelly, Leaper and colleagues · 2020-11 · Verified

  Endangered Species Research 43, 359-373; https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v43/p359-373/

Recorded on Grytviken Whaling Station

1. 1904-11-16Whaling begins at Grytviken, South Georgia
2. 1909 or c.1912 (sources disagree)The longest blue whale on record is measured at South Georgia
3. 1930/31 seasonThe Antarctic blue whale catch reaches its all-time peak
4. 1947-03-20The heaviest blue whale on record is weighed
5. 1948-1970sSoviet fleets take protected whales and file false returns
6. 1965 (Grytviken); island operations described as running to 1971Whaling ends at South Georgia
7. 1966The IWC protects blue whales from commercial hunting
8. 1986 (coastal); 1985/86 pelagic seasonThe commercial whaling moratorium takes effect
9. 2013, 2015, 2019Dedicated Antarctic Blue Whale Project voyages
10. 2020-02Blue whales are found back at South Georgia
11. 2023The only published Antarctic blue whale satellite tracks are released as data
12. 2025A capture-recapture abundance estimate for Antarctic blue whales is published
13. 2026An individual Antarctic blue whale is re-sighted at South Georgia

Related

Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.

• An individual Antarctic blue whale is re-sighted at South Georgia · 2026
• A capture-recapture abundance estimate for Antarctic blue whales is published · 2025
• The only published Antarctic blue whale satellite tracks are released as data · 2023
• Blue whales are found back at South Georgia · 2020-02
• Dedicated Antarctic Blue Whale Project voyages · 2013, 2015, 2019
• The commercial whaling moratorium takes effect · 1986 (coastal); 1985/86 pelagic season
• The IWC protects blue whales from commercial hunting · 1966
• Soviet fleets take protected whales and file false returns · 1948-1970s