George Rayner, Biologist & Photographer

George W. Rayner was a British photographer and biologist based at the research station at Grytviken in the Falkland Islands from around 1928 to 1939.

In 1929 the Australian explorer Hubert Wilkins and American publisher William Randolph Hearst organised an expedition to Antarctica. The Discovery Committee of the British Colonial Office agreed to assist this expedition with its research vessel the William Scoresby. As a result Rayner accompanied Hubert Wilkins as a photographer on this expedition.

During the next decade he took part in a number of other sub-Antarctic voyages as a member of the scientific staff of the Discovery II research vessel. The primary focus of his research was whales, helping to establish the seasonal migration patterns of whales. During this period, Rayner was also an avid photographer of his sub-Antarctic environment.