Shackleton South Georgia Birds 1920

Directed by Hubert Wilkins

Sir Ernest Shackleton is a poignant absence in this fragment from the closing chapter in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. The Shackleton-Rowett Expedition and their ship the Quest docked at the old whaling station at Grytviken, South Georgia, on 4 January 1922; Shackleton died of a heart attack on board in the early hours of 5 January. These scenes of wildlife on the remote island – including skewers, fulmars, penguins and seals – were shot before the Quest departed on 18 January.