William Nigel Bonner (15 February 1928 – 27 August 1994) was a British zoologist, Antarctic marine mammal specialist, author and ecologist.

[1] Bonner was recognized for his research on the Antarctic fur seal of South Georgia, publishing in 1968 a highly respected monograph, which was the "first modern study of the species".

[3] Later in their lives, Nigel became a respected zoologist,[2] and Gerald Bonner became a noted Early Church historian and scholar.

During this time, he was lodged with a slaughterman, which may have contributed to his later "matter of fact" approach to collecting large animals for scientific research.

[5] After leaving the Army, he worked as a lab technician, and then studied biology at the Polytechnic of North London, as preparation for further education.

In 1955, he worked with Richard John Harrison, a noted anatomist, who assisted Bonner in processing his Antarctic fieldwork.

[2] Setting forth on a whaling transport, Polar Maid, they landed at Leith Harbour, at which point Bonner developed appendicitis, and was whisked off to hospital for surgery.

Once recovered, Bonner joined his friend on Paul Beach[6] in the Bay of Isles, where they set up their base in a garden shed.

[7][2][5] Returning to England in 1955, he spent a year at London Hospital Medical School, working with Richard John Harrison, to process and publish the results of his research.

The publication provided reproductive biologists with new information regarding elephant seals,[7] and was accompanied by photographs that he made, despite the primitive and difficult field conditions.

As a culmination of his work, in 1968 he published a highly respected monograph, which was the "first modern scientific study of the species"; at the time of his death in 1994, it was still referred to and quoted.

[2] Beginning in the early 20th century, as South Georgia was growing into the world's largest whaling centre, reindeer from Norway were released on the island.

[8] By following the deer, and collecting seven stags, Bonner established their food source as tussock grass, not lichens, as had been previously thought.

[2] Bonner was chosen as convenor of the newly-formed Group of Specialists on Environmental Affairs and Conservation (GOSEAC) in 1989 and continued to serve in this capacity through 1992.

[9]: 5–7, 11 After his retirement from the British Antarctic Survey, he periodically returned to South Georgia, beginning in 1989, and worked to clear environmental hazards associated with the now-deserted, and frequently vandalized whaling stations.

[10] Bonner was appointed by the Commissioner for South Georgia, William Fullerton to supervise a team of marine engineers, who were charged with evaluating and reporting on the environmental hazards.

After the whaling industry ended on the island in 1965, the station buildings, with their large stores of diesel fuel were often scavenged by boat crews.

[11] Also in 1991, with financial support from the South Georgia government, Bonner and his team renovated and restored the manager's house (Villa) at Grytviken.

Noting that the visitors had been impressed, he said:[11][5] If this causes them to think a little more deeply about the whaling industry, the management of natural resources, and the society of whalers, I think we shall have achieved our objective.Bonner met Jennifer Sachs during his studies at University College London.

[14] Bonner Beach,[15] at Larsen Harbour, South Georgia, where the Weddell seals gather to breed, is named in his honour.