In the early 1900s, whaling became extremely lucrative, as the animals were prized for their oil and meat. Initially, Norwegian and British whalers made up the bulk of the industry. In 1908, the British made a territorial claim on the Antarctic with the intention of taxing whalers from other countries. Later, in 1939, a German expedition arrived to take over Norwegian territory, establishing a whaling station so it could stop relying on Norwegian whale oil.

Chile and Argentina started to make claims on "British" land, which led Britain to launch a secret mission, Operation Tabarin, in 1943 to strengthen its position on the territory. Conflicts were put to bed in 1986 when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned large-scale whaling in the Antarctic Ocean.

Antarctica: the battle to own the world’s forgotten continent