A voyage into Antarctica’s Ross Sea offers a rare entry into a vast wilderness of wild landscapes dominated by icebergs, mountains and wildlife which thrives in extreme conditions.
Take the Ross Ice Shelf, for example. This floating ice mass is roughly the size of Spain. The ocean rolling along its cliffs support colossal colonies of penguins, pods of Orcas and humpback whales. Crabeater, Weddell and leopard seals loll languidly on calved bergs. Seabirds soar overhead. Penguins porpoise at the base of ice cliffs. It’s a sensory overload that is almost too much to take in.
In the 24/25 season there were a little over 107,200 cruise visitors to the Antarctic continent. With most visitors heading to the Antarctic Peninsula, approximately 1,000 visited the Ross Sea. On a blustery day in Bluff, New Zealand I board Heritage Adventurer, bound for the southernmost reaches of the Ross Sea.
Expedition cruising to the Ross Sea via Subantarctic Islands
Our journey begins among the Subantarctic islands, which act as emerald stepping stones toward the high latitudes beyond the Antarctic Circle. At the Snares, thousands of Sooty Shearwaters fill the sky while Snares penguins plop into the sea below the penguin slide. The Auckland Islands reveal a history of harrowing shipwrecks and failed colonies, where Southern Rata forests grow stunted by relentless winds. At Macquarie Island, boisterous elephant seals joust on beaches crowded with Royal and King penguins. Campbell Island offers a flourish of flowering megaherbs and young gamming albatross interacting with other adolescents socially as they seek a mate for life.
Navigating the pack ice of the Ross Sea
Crossing the Antarctic Circle at latitude 66º33S we celebrate by taking a pledge to advocate for the preservation of Antarctica’s wildlife, history and splendour. Before long we see our first iceberg – a magical moment as we rug up against the cold to admire its beauty from the sky deck. Later, pack ice rolls rhythmically with the ocean swell as we forge further south through the Southern Ocean. Soon, icebergs line the horizon like sentinels to the wilderness. Adelie penguins welcome us like gatekeepers to their icy home.
Darkness falls away and we have 24 hours of sunlight. I find myself wide awake at 3am one morning, photographing the golden light catching the cliffs of an iceberg. On another day, snow falls softly, dusting the decks with a carpet of dazzling whiteness. We cruise past towering cliffs of Iceberg B-22A, a massive slab of ice spanning roughly 1,500 sq km. Everything about the Ross Sea seems oversized, almost overwhelming in its grandeur.
Inside the historic Antarctic Huts of Scott and Shackleton
But it’s not just the landscape that makes this region so special. The Ross Sea played a major role during the Heroic Age of Exploration when intrepid explorers were staking their claims on the South Pole. Legendary explorers like Shackleton, Scott, Amundsen and Mawson are some of better known leaders, but there are scores of men who contributed to the success (or otherwise) of Antarctic expeditions.
Stepping into the preserved historic hut at Cape Evans feels like an intrusion into a private home frozen in time. Inside Scott’s Hut, the air is thick with a pungent, rich odour of seal blubber and smoke. Roughly darned socks hang above beds. Newspapers are scattered as though the men might return from an expedition at any moment. A penguin’s body is perfectly preserved on a table. Cufflinks and handmade boots stuffed with straw give a voyeuristic insight the men’s life.
At Cape Royds, Shackleton’s Hut sits among lava hummocks. Resting against timber cladding are timber spoked wheels of the first motor vehicle brought to the continent. An iron stove dominates the room and it’s easy to imagine men crowding around it to warm up after forays into the icy world beyond the hut. A photo of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra hangs above a bunk. Cans of arrowroot, pea soup and egg powder line the shelves. I imagine their conversations and camaraderie as a blizzard rages outside.
These buildings represented security for men who “lived the life of troglodytes” (as one explorer put it) in a dark, cheerless environment devoid of luxuries. Borchgrevink’s Hut at Cape Adare is the oldest building on the continent, a fascinating relic of the first expedition to overwinter in 1899. Surrounding the hut is a mammoth Adelie penguin rookery – a ceaseless cacophony of activity – which provided a ready food source.
Wildlife encounters in McMurdo Sound
We’re visiting in late January when fast ice has receded enough to allow us to forge deep into the southern reaches of McMurdo Sound. A month earlier and we would have been met with a wall of impenetrable ice. One month later and the ice would have started to reclaim the sea again. Heritage Expeditions are pioneers in this region and have been taking expeditions here for more than 30 years. They operate just two 28-day voyages to the Ross Sea each summer, both impeccably timed to take maximum advantage during the short window for safe navigation. The weather conditions are so benign we embark on multiple shore excursions, sometimes not returning until near-midnight, happily exhausted with our wilderness cup full of incredible memories.
At our southernmost point at 77 degrees south, Captain Jacek nudges the ship’s bow into the fast ice. In the distance, the volcanic core of Mount Erebus sends a horizontal plume of steam across a pale blue sky. We watch Orcas and Minke whales working the ice edge, their exhalations providing a rhythmic soundtrack to the stillness. Adélie penguins waddle across the white expanse. Katabatic winds occasionally stir the sea, sending sprouts of spray from ice caves along the Drygalski Ice Tongue. Emperor penguins appear as solitary figures on the ice, posing for our cameras with regal indifference.
The serene majesty of remote wilderness
Unlike the more frequently visited Antarctic Peninsula, the Ross Sea remains a wilderness of quiet majesty, where rugged glaciers and living history have been preserved. It feels a real privilege to walk in the footsteps from the Heroic Age. We wander through sites where history was written, leaving behind icy graves of intrepid explorers. Where blizzards rage and snow dampens all sounds. Where wildlife thrives and humans are few.
Turning northwards to return to New Zealand, we bid farewell to ice-bound landscapes cast with the golden glow of midnight sun. Exhaled spume from Orcas catches in the sunlight like magic dust. A cluster of Emperor penguins stand atop an ice floe seemingly bidding us bon-voyage.
The writer travelled as a guest of Heritage Expeditions.
