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Antarctic Inspired: Interview with Ruben Hein

While we love when our guests are inspired by our trips, we rarely hear of them making a nature documentary, musical album, and biodiversity website as a result. But such was the case with Dutch musician Ruben Hein.

Charting Flanders Bay

Until then, this spot in the northwestern Antarctic Peninsula had only been charted three times since 1898, when it was roughly mapped by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition. This activity, which involved our expedition leader, second mate, and other members of our onboard staff, was accomplished using the OLEX depth mapping system.

Oceanwide charts Antarctic island

Guests, guides, and crew all helped chart a route around the largest of the Guyou Islands in Flandres Bay, returning to the ship late that evening. The team effort involved our expedition leader, field operations manager, second mate, and other members of our onboard staff.

Ortelius Staff Spot Type D Orca

Taking our guests to beautiful polar areas to see exotic polar animals is what we’re all about. Whether we’re spotting polar bears or penguins, humpback whales or leopard seals or whole harems of walruses, it’s the wildlife that really fuels our passion for the polar regions.

Fourth consecutive Snow Hill landing

We’re thrilled to report we made our fourth consecutive landing at the emperor penguin colony on Snow Hill Island last Friday.

South Georgia Whaling Stations

South Georgia is an animal lover’s dream. In fact, it’s one of the most wildlife-rich locations we visit in all of our polar voyages, whether in the Northern Hemisphere or Southern.

World’s Best Expedition Cruise Line 2022

It is with great delight that we announce we have been nominated for World’s Best Expedition Cruise Line at the second annual World Cruise Awards.

Book Recommendations for Your Polar Cruise

We’ve reached out to our followers on social media, most of whom are former (or future) passengers, to find out what polar-related books they recommend. We were quite happy with the results, which we’ve summarized below in no particular order.

IAATO Celebrates Inaugural Antarctic Ambassadorship Day

As much as we love Antarctica, we love taking our guests there even more. And one of the things we love most about that is seeing their eyes light up as Antarctica works its magic, proving yet again its uncanny power to transform first-time visitors into lifelong ambassadors.

Weddell Sea, Shackleton’s Endurance, and New Swabia

Our Antarctica 2023-24 cruise program is filled with fantastic expeditions, not least of which is a new itinerary that tours key locations of South Georgia, the Weddell Sea, and the more easterly area of New Swabia (Neuschwabenland).

Oceanwide Expeditions Continues Charity Donations Based on Passenger Reviews

Some years ago, we made an offer to our former passengers: For every review they left on our website, we would donate €5 to a charity of their choice. This resulted in donations to four excellent nature conservation organizations, and we were happy to continue the tradition this year.

Shackleton’s Long-Lost Endurance Discovered in Antarctica

A discovery expedition launched by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust fulfilled a mission years in the making when it discovered Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance last Saturday (March 5).

Antarctica Bound: Plancius and Hondius Sail South

If we were excited telling you that we’re finally going back to Antarctica, we’re thrilled to report that Plancius and Hondius are already on their way south.

We’re Going Back to Antarctica!

We plan to restart operations in Antarctica with two of our four ships, which are currently being supplied and prepared for positioning in Argentina: Plancius and Hondius will begin the 2021 Antarctic season on November 23 and 26, respectively.

The Eight Albatrosses of Antarctica and the Sub-Antarctic

Whether you’re bound for Antarctica, the sub-Antarctic, or some combination of both, this entry will give you all the important albatross info as well as where these birds can best be found.

Introducing our new Science Basecamp program

For polar travelers with a particular bent for science, we have designed an all-new Science Basecamp program that explores such fascinating topics as geology, marine biology, glaciology, and macro-photography.

Vote for World’s Best Expedition Cruise Line 2021

We are delighted to announce that we have been nominated for the World’s Best Expedition Cruise Line 2021 award at the inaugural event of the World Cruise Awards

Trips for All Birders: Interview with Martin Berg

Martin Berg is a marine biologist and expedition leader, and his love of birds runs deep. This year he will join us on some of our most bird-focused trips.

The Music of Antarctica: Interview with Cellist Jörg Berning

We interviewed German cellist Jörg Berning about performing Ralph Vaughan Williams's Sinfonia Antarctica with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

True South: A New Flag for a Global Antarctica

When Evan Townsend signed up to spend the winter of 2018 working at an Antarctic research station, he had no reason to expect he would end the season by designing a new flag for the continent. He had even less reason to expect the support it would receive.

Contribute to science with your leopard seal pictures

Leopard seals are often described as looking reptilian, since their eyes are on either side of their large heads.

Tristan da Cunha’s New No-Take Marine Protection Zone

The islands of Tristan da Cunha are located over 2,700 km (1,600 miles) from South Africa and 3,700 km (2,300 miles) from South America. The main island is the most remote inhabited landmass on Earth. Populations of elephant seal and fur seal, still recovering from 19th-century hunting, live and breed offshore, in addition to humpback whales, Shepherd’s beaked whales, southern right whales, long-finned pilot whales, sperm whales, and species of dolphin.