Discovery Investigations

The Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based investigations into the biology of whales in the Southern Ocean. They were funded by the British Colonial Office and organised by the Discovery Committee in London, which was formed in 1918. They were intended to provide the scientific background to stock management of the commercial Antarctic whale fishery.

Discovery Investigations contributed greatly to knowledge of the whales, the krill they fed on and their habitat's oceanography, while charting the local topography, including Atherton Peak. They continued until 1951, with the final report published in 1980.

Collected specimens are in the Discovery Collections.

Laboratory
Shore-based work on South Georgia took place in the marine laboratory, Discovery House, built in 1925 at King Edward Point and occupied until 1931. The scientists lived and worked in the building, travelling half a mile or so across King Edward Cove to the whaling station at Grytviken to work on whales as they were brought ashore by commercial whaling ships.

Ships
Vessels used were:
 * RRS Discovery from 1924 to 1931
 * RRS William Scoresby from 1927 to 1945 or later
 * RRS Discovery II from 1929 to 1951

Reports
Results of the investigations were printed in the Discovery Reports. This was a series of many small reports, published in 38 volumes by the Cambridge University Press, and latterly the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences. Many were printed as individual reports rather than in large volumes.

Books
The Discovery Investigations are described in the following books, all of which were out of print in 2008: