GEOGRAPHIC SAMES OE ANTARCTICA 



Events since 1941 have emphasized the advis- 

 ability of listing only those operations which 

 have, either by design or accident, resulted in 

 geographical or scientific discovery, or the naming 

 of features in Antarctica. On the other hand, 

 although they resulted in no geographical discov- 

 eries there is ample justification for the inclusion 

 of such historically important operations as Capt. 

 C. A. Larsen's establishment of the first whaling 

 station on South Georgia in 1904-5 and the maiden 

 voyage of the Admiralen. the first floating factory. 

 in 1905-6. 



Of the many voyages by sealers during the first 

 half of the nineteenth century, only those have 

 been included for which sufficient information was 

 available to complete the listing. More may be 

 gleaned from the records of that period, as old 

 newspapers, diaries, and logbooks are occasionally 

 brought to light. This material, however, is not 

 expected to add much to Antarctic nomenclature, 

 for the areas that were probably visited by the 

 sealers are now fairly well charted and the geo- 

 graphical names are well fixed by usage. 



It is believed that most of the whalers credited 

 with actual discovery of new land have been listed. 

 but it i" beyond the scope of this work to list all 

 the modem whaling cruises in the Antarctic. 

 Widespread publicity accompanied the Antarctic 

 visit of the Soviet floating factory Slava which 

 reported sighting Princess Martha Coast on March 

 20, 1948, but such landfalls are commonplace 

 among .whalers. The nvimber of ships annually 

 engaged since 1905 has risen until in the 1938-39 

 season 34 floating factories and 281 whale-catchers 

 operated in Antarctic waters. Antarctic whaling 

 was virtually suspended and most of the factory 

 ships were lost during World War n. Only nine 

 factories were active during the 1945-46 season, 

 but their number increased until 19 were in use 

 during the 1950-51 season. Whaling has been 

 most actively carried on in three areas, the Scotia 

 Sea and surrounding waters, the southern Indian 

 Ocean westward of Enderby Land, and the waters 

 off the Queen Mary Coast. Errors detected in 

 existing charts are generally reported by the 

 whalers, but the ships usually operate at sea and 

 only incidentally sight land. Whaling captains 

 employed by Lars Christensen have been instructed 

 to investigate and chart new land when in the 

 course of their work an opportunity presents 

 itself. 



From 1925 imtU World War n the Discovery 

 Committee of the British Colonial Office carried 

 on, imder the title "Discovery Investigations," a 

 comprehensive program of oceanographic and bio- 

 logic research in Antarctic waters focusing on the 



study of whales and their habitat. In the course 

 of these operations portions of the coast of Ant- 

 arctica and several island groups were charted. 

 The work of the Discovery II and its predecessor, 

 the Discovery, has been outlined for each year of 

 operation. The William Scoresby was principally 

 engaged in the marking of whales, with incidental 

 cooperation in the oceanographic work of the Dis- 

 covery II: therefore, her activities have been listed 

 only when they have included exploration or sur- 

 veying. In 1949 the two ships, along with the 

 staff and equipment of the Discovery Committee, 

 were taken over by the newly created National 

 Institute of Oceanography, in whose research pro- 

 gram Antarctic work is only a part. 



Because they were not exploring expeditions and 

 added no geographical names to the Antarctic 

 recent voyages such as the 1941 cruises of the 

 German commerce raiders "33" and "45," which 

 first carried warfare into the far south, and the 

 counter voyages of H.M.S. Queen of Bermuda and 

 H.M.A.S. Australia in 1941 and H.M.S. Carnarvon 

 Castle in 1943 are not included. Argentina car- 

 ried on extensive naval maneuvers in Antarctic 

 waters in the summer of 1947-48, but only those 

 vessels which were in some degree concerned with 

 establishing or supplying Antarctic base camps 

 are listed. 



As a result of the contested territorial claims in 

 the Palmer Peninsxila sector Great Britain. Argen- 

 tina, and Chile have for the past several years 

 maintained continuously-occupied bases in this 

 area. While these bases have been ostensibly 

 set up as meteorological stations and as focal 

 points for geographical surveys, their maintenance 

 has important political implications. Since 1904 

 Argentina has maintained a weather station on 

 Laurie Island in the South Orkney Islands and 

 since 1906, when H.M.S. Sappho investigated con- 

 flicting whaling rights. Great Britain has admin- 

 istered the whaling industry on South Georgia. 

 Thfse operations as well as the more recent accel- 

 erated activity have resulted in numerous admin- 

 istrative cruises for the relief of personnel and or 

 inspection. Unless such operations have been defi- 

 nitely associated with geographical discover,' or 

 scientific investigation they are not included in 

 the list. 



Because of incomplete information on some of 

 the latest activity and because no names later than 

 1954 have been included in the names section, 

 except for a minute number of name corrections 

 based upon preliminary reports of exploration, the 

 list of expeditions is terminated with the 1954-55 

 season. 



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