Come on a journey across
the vast Southern Ocean
Ice

Moving south we cross the Antarctic Circle. On the deck of the ship we all make a pledge that we will look after the Southern Ocean. We promise to leave no litter, to take nothing but photographs and to encourage others to value the Southern Ocean and its magnificent islands.

Four days after leaving Macquarie Island we see our first big iceberg!

(Click to enlarge)

Ice from glaciers and from the Ross Ice Shelf is made from fresh water, they have come originally from snow. As the tongue of a glacier meets the sea, the edge of the ice will break off making icebergs. These can be very high.

Sea ice forms when the sea (salt) water freezes. In winter sea ice can extend out from the Antarctic continent for hundreds of kilometres. In the Ross Sea region sea ice can reach out to 1000 km from the land.

Decaying icebergs come in all shapes and sizes. As they melt they tumble in the water and expose more of the ice that was hidden from view beneath the water. A lot of ice may be below the water, depending on the density of the ice. An iceberg may have 6/7 below the surface of the water and only 1/7 above! The colours and patterns in the ice are just spectacular.

(Click to enlarge)