Antarctica
King George Island, South Shetland Islands
King George Island: Research Stations at the Edge of Antarctica
King George Island has a bank, a post office and a Russian Orthodox church whose priests serve there all year, and the Chinese station has an indoor multipurpose room that serves as a full-size basketball court. The Antarctic Peninsula and the islands near it are considered to have the mildest conditions in Antarctica, but the weather here is often cloudy and unsettled, with snow, rain or drizzle common, so pack for wet as well as cold.
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Arriving at King George Island
Many expedition voyages begin or end at King George Island, the largest of the South Shetland Islands, about 120 km off the Antarctic coast. Its Chilean airfield on the Fildes Peninsula is linked to Punta Arenas in Chile by charter flights, and if your voyage starts or finishes here, your line will explain how you reach the ship.
- The airfield, Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Martin, has no regular scheduled public service, only some charter flights.
- The island is about 95 km long and 25 km wide, and more than 90 percent of it lies permanently under ice.
- The coldest month, July, averages −6.5 °C, and the warmest month only 1.5 °C.
- The Fildes Peninsula, about 7 km long, is the most extensive snow-free coastal area on the island in summer, and several of the stations stand on it.
Life on King George Island
People live on King George Island only because of science: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, South Korea, Peru, Poland, Russia, Uruguay and the United States all keep research stations here, and most are permanently staffed. Beside the Chilean base is Villa Las Estrellas, one of only two civilian settlements in Antarctica.
- Villa Las Estrellas: The village was first settled in 1984 and has about 150 people in summer and 80 in winter. Its post office is staffed by a postal worker in summer, and visitors send postcards from it to get an Antarctic postmark.
- Trinity Church: A Russian Orthodox church stands on high ground near Russia's Bellingshausen Station. It was built of Siberian pine in Russia, shipped south in pieces and consecrated in 2004, and one or two priests staff it all year, rotating annually.
- Great Wall Station: China's first Antarctic station was built on the Fildes Peninsula in 1985 by an expedition team that finished the work in 40 days.
- Arctowski Station: Poland's station is one of the most visited scientific stations in Antarctica, and whale bones lie on the beaches nearby, left from the years when whales were processed there.
- Admiralty Bay: The bay, with its three fjords, is an Antarctic Specially Managed Area under the environmental rules of the Antarctic Treaty.
A Brief History
The British explorer William Smith found King George Island in 1819 and named it after King George III. Britain, Chile and Argentina have all claimed it, and today its shores hold research stations from ten countries.
- 1819: The island was first claimed for Britain on 16 October 1819.
- 1821: Eleven men from the sealing ship Lord Melville survived the winter here.
- 1908: Britain formally annexed the island as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies. It now falls within the claim Britain calls the British Antarctic Territory.
- 1940 and 1943: Chile claimed the island as part of its Antarctic territory, and Argentina claimed it three years later, naming it Isla 25 de Mayo after its national day.
- 1959: The Antarctic Treaty was opened for signature. It came into force in 1961 and covers all land south of 60 degrees South, King George Island included.
- 1968: The Soviet Union founded Bellingshausen Station.
- 1977: Poland opened Arctowski Station, named after Henryk Arctowski, the meteorologist of the Belgian Antarctic expedition of 1897 to 1899.
- 1979: The wildlife photographer Włodzimierz Puchalski died while filming near Arctowski. His grave on a hill south of the station, marked with an iron cross, is a protected Historic Site and Monument under the treaty.
- 1984 and 1985: Chile settled Villa Las Estrellas, and China opened Great Wall Station.
- 2004: Trinity Church was consecrated on 15 February.
King George Island with Children
For children, King George Island is a first look at Antarctic wildlife and at how people live and work this far south. The Antarctic Treaty parties have agreed general guidelines for visitors to Antarctica.
- Younger children: The Adélie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins and the elephant, Weddell and leopard seals that live along the coast make a good list to tick off.
- School age: Look for the birds that nest here in summer, among them skuas and the southern giant petrel. Only two flowering plants are known to grow on the island, Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort; the rest of its plant life is mostly mosses and lichens, with 61 species of moss recorded.
- Teenagers: If your voyage visits the Fildes Peninsula, the stations, the wooden Russian church and the village post office show what everyday life looks like this far south. Ardley Island, close off the island's southwest end, is a specially protected area because of its seabird colonies, which include about 4,600 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins.
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