Husvik
| Husvik | |
| South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | |
|---|---|
 Stromness Bay | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 54°10’48"S, 36°42’42"W |
| Data | |
| Local Government | |
Husvik is a former whaling station on Stromness Bay in the middle of the north coast of South Georgia. Husvik is the southernmost of three such stations on the edge of Stromness Bay, the other two being Stromness and Leith Harbour.
The name "Husvik" was given by Norwegian whalers. There is a village of the same name in Norway.
Husvik Harbour
Husvik Harbour (54°10’50"S, 36°40’0"W) is a sheltered bay, the south arm of Stromness Bay. It was earlier called Rolf Cove; and has been marked as Busen Fjord, after the Husvik transport ship Busen of the Tönsberg Hvalfangeri.
History
Husvik began as a floating, offshore factory site in 1907. In 1910, a land station was constructed and remained operational until 1930. The whaling factory resumed at Husvik at the end of the War in 1945 and continued until 1960. Husvik Harbour was also the site of the third introduction of reindeer to South Georgia in 1925.
The three whaling stations, Husvik, Stromness and Leith were linked by a rough track along the beach. During the whaling era, whalers from Stromness and Husvik would use it to get to Leith Harbour to use the cinema. The track can still be still used, but in some places is rendered impassable by aggressively territorial fur seals during their spring breeding season in November and December.
The freezer plant at Husvik was dismantled and moved to Grytviken in 1960, and whaling operations at Husvik permanently ceased. Afterwards, scientists from the British Antarctic Survey used the whaling managers' villa as a temporary shelter when doing work in the area up until the mid 1990s. More recent inhabitants include the BSES Expeditions expedition of December 2003, who used it as a base camp for a number of scientific and exploratory projects.
Husvik today
As with Leith, Stromness, and Prince Olav Harbour, the whaling station has been declared by the South Georgia Government as being too dangerous to visit, due to the danger from collapsing buildings and asbestos. Visitors must stay 656 feet (200 m) from the buildings and structures. Access to the Managers' Villa was prohibited in 2011 when the boundary of the 200m Prohibited Area was formalised in legislation.
The jetty is within the 656 ft (200 m) 'danger area' so is not usable, and is in a very dilapidated state. A colony of Blue-eyed shags nests on its end each year.
In the southern summer of 2005/6, the South Georgia Heritage Trust hired a team of Norwegian craftsmen to restore some of the buildings at Husvik. In March 2006, the Manager's Villa, a building known as the "Radio Shack" and a small generator shed were successfully repaired and restored.
South of Husvik is a whalers' cemetery where 34 men were buried between 1924 and 1959.
Outside links
- Photos at Husvik – South Georgia Heritage Trust
- Gazetteer and Map of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands: Husvik