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Svalbard a Disneyland for geologists

Svalbard is located in the north-western corner of the Eurasian plate. For a long period Svalbard was part of a large continent that included North America, Greenland and Eurasia. At one time both Northeast Greenland and Svalbard were submerged under the depths of the ocean before surfacing again. It is because of this geological history that Svalbard is a geologist’s heaven.

A Photo-Tour of our Cruise Ship the m/v Plancius

Welcome aboard the Plancius! She was originally named the Hr. Ms. Tydeman and was built as an oceanographic research vessel for the royal Dutch Navy in 1976.

Six Seal Species You Might See On Your Greenland Cruise

Seals play a big role in the history of Greenland. They’ve been a source of food, clothing, and other supplies for centuries and without them it’s possible that there wouldn’t even be a Greenland as we know it at all.

Traditional Lifestyles of the Inuit

The Inuit are an indigenous Arctic people who speak the languages of the Eskaleutian family and who reside in four countries surrounding the North Pole: Greenland, Canada, the United States, and Russia.

Freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic

The Arctic, which may be of a surprise, is home to an abundant and diverse range of freshwater ecosystems including lakes, ponds, rivers and streams in addition to deltas and wetlands. Some of the rivers and associated deltas located in the Arctic are the world’s largest including the Lena, Ob and Yenisei.

Want a Sneak Preview of Your Antarctica Cruise?

You’ll have to put some effort into taking a bad picture of Antarctica. The landscapes offer starkly beautiful vistas in every direction.

The disastrous expedition in the Arctic west

In 1902, Otto Sverdrup, captain of the Fram on Nansen’s expedition, led his own expedition to the Arctic north of Canada. Over the period of the expedition, which started in 1898, Sverdrup and his 15-man crew chartered over 250,000 square kilometres of the Arctic using the Fram and sledges. During the expedition Ellesmere Island’s west coast was explored and new islands discovered.

The polar bear: king of the Arctic food chain

The polar bear is the world’s largest species of bear and the largest land predator. There is a large difference in size between male and female polar bears with the male weighing anything from 350 to 800 kilograms. Females in contrast weigh less than half.

5 Misconceptions You Might Have About Greenland

Greenland isn’t dark the entire year round. It isn’t always bitterly cold either...

The Mysteries of the Beluga Whale

Beluga whales (also known as white whales, sea canaries, and sometimes melonheads) are a rare but cherished sight during Arctic cruises, due in part to their striking appearance. Yet despite the infrequency of beluga sightings, a fair amount is known about these friendly-faced cetaceans.

Five Birds You Might See on Your Greenland Cruise

A Greenland expedition cruise gives birdwatchers the chance to add some beautiful avian entries to their photo collections. Host to over 230 different species of bird, Greenland is as full of spectacular landscapes as winged wildlife.

Flowers in Antarctica

The Polar Regions are one of the most inhospitable environments for plants and animals to live in. In Antarctica life faces difficulties from low temperatures, high winds, solar radiation and freezing of cells. Life is made even more difficult when the Antarctic continent is plunged into darkness for during winter and then full light during the summer.

All things ice in the Antarctic

The first recorded sighting on an iceberg in Antarctica was on 1 February 1700 when Edmond Halley was on an expedition to measure the Earth’s magnetic field. Today scientists have classified Antarctic ice as two types: Land and sea ice.

A visit to the fascinating island of Jan Mayen

After exploring the remote island of Fair Isle, our Atlantic Odyssey voyage once more turned its attentions northwards and left the outer extremities of the UK behind. Our destination was Jan Mayen, a volcanic island situated on the mid-Atlantic ridge just north of 71°.

The ozone layer in Antarctica

Scientists have calculated that if the ozone layer was brought down to sea level it would be 3 mm thick, while in the Antarctic the ozone can be as low as 1 mm thick. Ozone in the stratosphere is being depleted by a variety of human-made gases with a ‘hole’ forming over Antarctica.

Graham Land: A landscape dominated by volcanoes

At the upper tip of the Antarctic Peninsula lies Graham Land, a jagged, glaciated part of Antarctica with a landscape dominated by volcanoes. Despite the volcanoes being over 200 million years old they are far from extinct with volcanic activity occurring today.

Why You Should Visit Greenland: 11 Things to See, Do, and Explore

There's nothing quite like seeing your first Greenland glacier, sailing into the island's largest fjord system (also, incidentally, Earth's largest), or watching a humpback whale breach over the dark Greenland Sea - three great reasons to visit Greenland, and we've barely gotten started.

Shackleton’s Push to the South Pole

On the evening of February 11, 1907, Irish-born polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, already among the more famous polar explorers, announced his intention to embark on a momentous Antarctic expedition. His goal: to reach the South Pole.

19 Photos of Life on Ortelius

It’s understandable that most of your questions are going to revolve around what you can do once your Arctic or Antarctic cruise reaches its destination. Still, you may very well be curious about the journey itself; after all (depending on your cruise) you may be spending as much as a month aboard a ship.

Get to Know Your Ice

Ice. It does everything from cooling your drink to helping to regulate the temperature of the entire planet. Let’s take a look at the ways we encounter ice in the world and its wide variety of names.

Churches in Antarctica

'Below 40 degrees South there is no law, below 50 degrees South there is no God', goes the old adage. When faced with a storm in the turbulent and freezing waters of the Drake Passage, one might think so.

Amundsen’s Race to the South Pole

Amundsen had acquired Fram from Fridtjof Nansen on the understanding it was to be involved in an expedition to the Arctic. However, before it could set sail it required a number of repairs, including a new diesel engine as it had been out of commission for many years. On June 7 1910, Fram left Oslo for the first leg of what was supposed to be the first leg of a voyage to the North Pacific via Cape Horn: Amundsen’s original plans was to explore the northern part of the polar basin where the North Pole was situated which the first Fram expedition under Nansen in 1893-96 had failed to reach.