HMS Protector Keeps South Georgia Beach Clean

Royal Navy HMS Protector’s crew recently helped the South Georgia Government by carrying out a beach clean up and glacier survey.

But over the years debris from several shipwrecks has been washed up on the island’s beaches, located 700 miles east of the Falklands.

A group from the Ice Patrol Vessel went ashore and began a clean-up removing more than a tonne of wreckage with the help of members of the British Antarctic Survey.

During the South Georgia visit the ship also produced a radar survey of the Drygalski Glacier to determine how it has changed over the years.

The resulting image demonstrated that it has shrunk and has contributed valuable information about the effects that climate change is having in the island’s environment.

Protector’s Diving team had an important role to play in finding five historic whaling vessels that sank during a snow storm in the 1960s.

Since they sank it is believed that they have been leaking fuel into the waters and the divers were able to report on the status of the vessels to the South Georgia Government.

Image: LA(PHOT) Keith Morgan