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20 Reasons Why We Love a Spitsbergen Cruise (and Why You Will Too)

Welcome to Spitsbergen. It’s one of the destinations we always love to visit, and we think you’ll love it too. Why? Well…

Day and night in Antarctica

The abnormal day and light cycles cause great impact on humans, and scientists are using Antarctica to study its effects and how to prevent them.

Albatross, penguin and krill research in Antarctica

In the Antarctic region, a great deal of research is being conducted by national Antarctic programmes including the UK’s, Australia’s and Japan’s on understanding species in the air, on the ground and in the sea and how their species are interconnected without variables including human impacts and climate change.

Explore Antarctica Without Leaving Your Couch

There are many ways to explore Antarctica from home. Check these great resources to discover the White Continent without leaving your couch.

Antarctic krill: Antarctica's Superfood

The size of a paper clip, pink, krill is a shrimp-like crustacean that does not look like much. Without them, though, the Earth marine ecosystems would collapse completely.

The Emperor Penguin of the Drake Passage

There are certain moments in life when a series of events combine to create an experience that is both unexpected and unforgettable. These are the times when you are reminded how fortunate you are to be a part of something that few people will ever have the opportunity to experience.

The First Women in Antarctica

Though the list of explorers, scientists, and scientific expeditions in Antarctica is as extensive as it is impressive, it has also been overwhelmingly one-sided in terms of gender - especially before the early years of the twentieth century.

Leonard Hussey’s Banjo: brain food

The Endurance had been trapped in pack ice for 10 months when Sir Ernest Shackleton gave the order to abandon ship on 27 October 1915. He allowed each member of the Imperial TransAntarctic Expedition to bring 2lbs of personal gear with them as they set up camp on the floe—all except meteorologist, Leonard Hussey.

Roald Amundsen’s polar exploits

Roald Amundsen had been, unlike Scott, dedicated to exploration ever since he was 15 years old reading about Franklin’s Arctic expeditions. Amundsen wrote that ‘the narrative that appealed to me most strongly was the suffering he and his men endured. A strange ambition burned within me to endure those same sufferings’ and so he dedicated himself to becoming an Arctic explorer.

10 Books and Films To Prepare for your Antarctica cruise

Stunning landscapes. Marvellous wildlife. Astounding human survival stories. Here's a list of books and films that contain all of that. If you are thinking of embarking on a trip to Antarctica, once you've watched or read our recommendations, you will feel you have to be on a vessel, destination south, pronto.

Of Treacherous Rocks & Audacious Fin Whales

The morning dawned beautiful and calm, the Plancius weaving her way through the seas ever nearing Antarctic Sound. The waters were fantastically gentle, with minimal amounts of swell and waves ever so gently rocking the ship. As we neared the jagged scarred mountains of rocks known as the South Shetland Islands, more and more icebergs loomed on the horizon. Soon the ship was nearly surrounded by large magnificent icebergs, massive tabular’s whose presence dwarfed our tiny vessel.

Coming Back from the Brink: The Fur Seals of Antarctica

Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the Antarctic fur seal is one of the most populous and charismatic species of seal found in Antarctica. Unlike other members of its large family, the fur seal has external ears, or pinnae, a short snout, and a thick coat of dark brown fur. Male seals tend to be larger than females, and range in weight from 91 kg (200 lbs.) to 215 kg (474 lbs.).

Abandoned Antarctica: Five Remarkable Stations Left Behind

For centuries, the most extreme scientists, explorers, fishermen, and travellers have called Antarctica home. The continent is peppered with research stations that represent the valiant efforts of humankind to study the unknown.

The Small but Social Commerson’s Dolphin

Despite the fact that Commerson's dolphins are among the least-known Antarctic cetaceans, these small but social dolphins go by several different names.

Antarctica’s Hourglass Dolphin

Hourglass dolphins are very rare, and yet they are not included in the threatened or endangered species list. Why? First, their habitat is the cold and remote subantarctic and Antarctic waters. Secondly, they are not hunted commercially, and thirdly, they are timid and usually avoid human contact.

The First Buildings in Antarctica: Borchgrevink’s Historic Huts

Borchgrevink’s huts at Cape Adare are notable not only for their important role in the discovery of Antarctica, but also because they were the first buildings erected on that continent.

Everything you need to know about Antarctic icebergs

When one imagines icebergs, the first image that usually comes to mind is that of an immense spiky iceberg, majestically floating in the freezing waters. But in reality, any chunk of ice larger than 16 feet across and at least 98 feet thick can be called an iceberg

The first race to the South Pole in 50 years

James Clark Ross’s British Royal Navy expedition of 1839-1843 launched the most successful expedition to Antarctica by pioneering an entry into the region of sea that now bears his name, opening the door to the inhospitable continent for future expeditions to come.

The Norse Settlement of Greenland

Erik the red is a very colourful and important figure in the history of the Norse Vikings. The source for his story is found in the Icelandic Sagas Huaksbók (14th Century) and Skalhóltsbók (15th Century). Also Flateyjarbók (13th Century), which contains the Saga of the Greenlanders, is an important source that helps to understand the settlement of Greenland and the discovery of Vinland – North America.

Protecting the heritage of Discovery Hut, Hut Point Antarctica

One building that became a testament to scientific endeavour is Discovery hut at Hut Point, on Ross Island. Discovery hut was Robert Falcon Scott’s first expedition base in Antarctica – established by the National Antarctic Discovery Expedition 1901-1904.

Weddell seals: The data collectors scientists of Antarctica

Weddell seals inhabit some of the coldest and darkest waters deep within the Ross Sea ice, making them the southernmost naturally occurring mammals on Earth.