Peter I Island - History

History

The first sighting of Peter I Island was made on 21 January 1821 by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen's expedition, who commanded the ships Vostok and Mirnyy under the Russian flag. He named the island for Tsar Peter I "the Great" of Russia. Pack ice made it impossible for Bellinghausen to come nearer than 25 kilometers (16 mi) from the island. It was the first land to have been spotted south of the Antarctic Circle, and was thus also the southernmost sighted land at the time of its discovery. In January 1910, the French expedition led by Jean Charcot and his ship Pourquoi-Pas confirmed Bellingshausen's discovery, but they also did not land, being stopped 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) from the island by pack ice.

In 1926 and 1927, Norwegian Eyvind Tofte circumnavigated and surveyed the island from Odd I. However, he was also prevented from landing. The Norwegian whale-ship owner Lars Christensen financed several expeditions to the Antarctic, in part for research and in part to claim land for Norway. The latter was motivated by the British taxation of whaling stations in the Antarctic, and Christensen hoped to be able to establish stations on Norwegian territory to gain better privileges and so at least the taxes went to his home country. The first expedition to land on the island was the Christensen-financed second Norvegia expedition, led by Nils Larsen and Ola Olstad. They landed on 2 February 1929 and claimed the island for Norway. Larsen attempted to land again in 1931, but was hindered by pack ice. On 6 March 1931, a Norwegian royal proclamation declared the island under Norwegian sovereignty and on 23 March 1933 the island was declared a dependency.

The next landing occurred on 10 February 1948 by Larsen's ship Brategg. Biological, geological and hydrographic surveys underwent for three days, before the pack ice forced the expedition to leave. The expedition built a hut and placed a copy of the document of occupation from 1929 inside. On 23 June 1961, Peter I Island became subject to the Antarctic Treaty, after Norway's signing of the treaty in 1959. Since then, there have been several landings on the island by various nations for scientific investigations, as well as a limited number of ships that have successfully landed tourists on the island.

In 1987, the Norwegian Polar Institute sent five scientists to spend eleven days on the island. The main focuses were aerial photography and topographical measurements to allow an accurate map of the island to be produced. The second important area was marine biological investigations, although also geological, biological and other surveys were conducted. The team also built an automatic weather station. Three DX-peditions have been sent to the island, in 1987, 1994 and 2006. As of 2005, it is estimated that fewer than 600 people have set foot on Peter I Island.