BY MISTY MILIOTO
Since its founding in 1999, Poseidon Expeditions has taken thousands of exciting travelers to the most distant corners on earth. Recently, the arctic cruise ship operator joined forces with the South Georgia Heritage Trust to help fund conservation efforts on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. Through the partnership, Poseidon Expeditions donated £100 ( or about$ 125 ) to SGHT every time a new passenger booked a cruise ( through 2024 ) featuring South Georgia. These funds are now supporting SGHT’s continuous conservation work on the island.
The smaller British Overseas Territory of South Georgia lies about 950 miles south of the Falkland Islands. Famed for its classic wildlife, South Georgia is home to humpback whales, southern elephant seals, seabirds, and large colonies of king penguins. The island is also known for the world-famous explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, who died on South Georgia
in 1922 and is buried in Grytviken Cemetery. SGHT even runs the South Georgia Museum— located on the island — on behalf of the Government of South Georgia &, the South Sandwich Islands.
“SGHT and Poseidon Expeditions have collaborated several times over the years”, says Luke Smith, director of development at SGHT. ” This new campaign is only the latest example of Poseidon Expeditions ‘ support for SGHT and the island of South Georgia”.
Founded in 2005, SGHT has two major missions: To help efforts to conserve and protect South Georgia’s indigenous fauna and flora, and to assist efforts to preserve the historical heritage of South Georgia, including selected historic sites of importance, and increase global awareness of the individual history of the island through the South Georgia Museum.
Among its conservation efforts since 2005, SGHT delivered the world’s largest rodent eradication project. Invasive rats and mice, which whalers inadvertently introduced 200 years ago, had been predating the eggs and chicks of millions of native birds. In fact, they had about pushed one species, the South Georgia pipit, to extinction. Through SGHT’s eradication project, the island was declared rodent- completely in May 2018. Since then, the organization has been supporting continued efforts by the Government of South Georgia &, the South Sandwich Islands to make sure that South Georgia’s 10, 000-15, 000 annual visitors don’t unwittingly undo this progress.
In addition to protecting and preserving the island’s unique environment and wildlife through conservation work, the funds are contributing to medical research, running the South Georgia Museum and delivering significant cultural projects on — or related to — the island. The museum, which originally was a museum of whaling, has evolved over the past 20 years to encompass all that represents the heritage of the island, both natural and cultural. The collection includes archaeology, artwork, maritime, geology, military history, cultural history, and natural history. Meanwhile, a permanent art installation, Commensalis: The Spirit Tables of South Georgia, by Scottish sculptor Michael Visocchi, will act as a whale memorial at Grytviken ( an abandoned yet atmospheric former whaling station ).
” From 2015, Poseidon started offering departures that stop in South Georgia aboard Sea Spirit”, says Kate Statsenko, head of global sales at Poseidon Expeditions. ” Each year, we have between 22 and 24 expeditions in between the British Isles ( two departures ), the Arctic ( eight to 10 departures ), and the Antarctic ( 11 to 12 departures ). Usually four or five departures include South Georgia ,]thereby bringing about 400 to 500 total guests to the island]. South Georgia is the total highlight, as it is the heart of the polar safari and a paradise for the wildlife photographers”. While the amount of money raised through the partnership has certainly been released, Smith says that the funds are an unlimited gift.
“]That means ] SGHT has the ability to spend the money where it’s most needed”, he says. ” It’s likely that the money donated by Poseidon Expeditions will be used to preserve heritage related to Sir Ernest Shackleton and]the Endurance Expedition ] story”.
” Poseidon Expeditions has been committed to safe and environmentally responsible exploration of the polar regions since 1999″, says Angelica Vorea, CEO of Poseidon Expeditions. ” We are privileged to bring visitors from all over the world to encounter the wonders of South Georgia and the wider Antarctic region. We know how much our guests value the opportunities they have to experience such sights, and we are happy to have teamed up with SGHT in this way so that our company can contribute to their significant mission”.
Poseidon Expeditions even has worked with the philanthropic Oceanites to help track penguin colonies in Antarctica. ” We]are ] always on the lookout for meaningful projects like this”, says Shulie Klein, managing director at Poseidon Expeditions. www. poseidonexpeditions.com, www. sght. org
