Ross Ice Shelf

Our Inspiring Explorers™ reached the Ross Ice Shelf yesterday – the world’s largest floating body of ice. This natural barrier, with its dizzying 30-metre-high ice cliffs, once prevented many early explorers from venturing further south.

James Clark Ross first discovered what he called the “Great Ice Barrier” in 1841, and it would be another 60 years before the first explorers ventured onto its surface. As the team cruised along these towering ice cliffs, they’re confronted by its monumental scale, just as those early explorers were.

The team travelled along the Ross Ice Shelf in extreme Antarctic conditions, catching glimpses of it through falling snow that was blown by gusts of 45-50 knots. In the afternoon the weather had cleared enough to go ashore at Cape Bird to view the vast Adélie penguin colony.

Franklin Island

Our Inspiring Explorers™ also landed on Franklin Island yesterday, discovered in 1841 by James Clark Ross and named for Sir John Franklin, the noted Arctic explorer who had hosted Ross’s expedition in Tasmania on their way south. Rising 290 metres from the sea and stretching 9 kilometres in length, this desolately beautiful island is the eroded remnant of a shield volcano that formed nearly 5 million years ago.

The team explored the coastline near the island’s southwestern shore, home to an Adélie penguin colony and other nesting seabirds. At the southern end stands Bernacchi Head, a precipitous cliff named for Louis Bernacchi of the British Antarctic ‘Southern Cross’ Expedition 1898-1900.