Swoop Antarctica Blog
It’s the most famous knock on the door in polar history. On 20 May 1916, Ernest Shackleton banged on the door of the Manager’s Villa in Stromness whaling station on South Georgia and announced to the surprised occupant that he had lost his ship. Together with Frank Worsley and Tom Crean, he had just marched […]
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At Swoop, we spend a lot of time talking about expedition guides as being the rockstars of Antarctic expedition cruising. It’s true they’re the best in the business for helping you experience the White Continent up close, but they’re only part of what makes a cruise here so special. Much of the credit also has […]
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The Antarctic Peninsula has a rich history of human exploration and science, much of which can be seen on an expedition cruise through the region. Some locations speak to the dark history of Antarctic whaling, such as the abandoned stations on Deception Island or the wreck of the Governoren. Other places are preserved as heritage […]
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If there’s one thing that can be agreed on about the polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, it’s that he was a great inspirer of men. In the story of his ship Endurance, which sank at the start of his attempt to cross Antarctica, it can often feel like he saved his men from certain disaster […]
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The big stories of Antarctic exploration tend to come in two main flavours: either a race to the South Pole, or a desperate survival story after a ship sinks after being in the ice. Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen, we’re looking at you. But no one has done more to change that popular perception in recent […]
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The leopard seal is one species that always ranks highly on the wishlist to see for travellers to Antarctica, and an encounter with one on an ice floe is always memorable. In this guide, we explain everything you need to know about leopard seals, and seeing them on an Antarctic expedition cruise. Introducing the leopard […]
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Antarctica is the final frontier for scuba diving. There is nowhere you can go that’s so remote—and so cold—to get underwater. Until relatively recently, the only people who have been able to dive there were scientists, but now any divers with the appropriate cold water experience can travel south to experience it for themselves. Diving […]
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For many people, Antarctica is the ultimate travel destination, with stepping foot on the White Continent the culmination of a life-long dream. But for others, that first step is just one in a long series of marches that can take you all the way to the South Pole and beyond. Preet Chandi MBE – or […]
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Antarctica is home to some of the most charismatic wildlife on Earth. Penguins by the thousand, humpback whales and orcas – these are the animals that compel people to travel all the way to the end of the Earth to see. But what about the life that’s normally hidden from view? At Swoop, we always […]
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We are scientists who have dedicated our careers to studying life in the most inhospitable regions of the world. Our mission is to understand how warming temperatures, melting ice, and a changing environment influence microscopic life living in Antarctica’s oceans. We spend countless hours in our temperature-controlled labs – yet deep down, we know that […]
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Antarctica is a place shrouded in tales of epic exploration and adventure. In recent years, the vogue has been for Ernest Shackleton and the destruction of his ship Endurance in the pack ice – a disaster redeemed by the astonishing rescue of his men after the voyage of the tiny James Caird from Elephant Island […]
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In Antarctica, ice is never just ice. It dominates the landscape, and for much of the year it dominates the sea too. The numbers alone never quite communicate its epic quality.Over 99% of Antarctica is covered in ice, much of it is more than a mile thick, and every polar winter the sea around it […]
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As Antarctic travel specialists, we know just how much people love penguins. Who doesn’t? They’re animals so ridiculously charismatic that they could have been designed in a laboratory for marketing purposes alone. These scene stealers sometimes leave little room for some of Antarctica’s other wildlife, including its seals – no matter how picturesque they can […]
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The continent of Antarctica is roughly the same size as Australia, but it effectively doubles in size every winter as the surrounding seas freeze, extending Antarctica’s reach with an impenetrable skirt of ice. This can often give the impression that Antarctica is a largely featureless place – an idea that’s reinforced by the picture of […]
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Science and Antarctic exploration have gone hand in hand since the first people began visiting the continent in the early 19th century. Expeditions, like those of Captain Scott, undertook extensive scientific programmes alongside the headline-grabbing attempts to reach the South Pole. Since the Second World War, many countries have operated scientific research stations in the […]
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If you’re looking to get the most out of your Antarctic cruise experience, there are few better ways to do it than by adding the Subantarctic island of South Georgia to your itinerary. This wildly remote island is a hundred-mile mountain range erupting out of some of the richest seas on the planet. Known as […]
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At Swoop, we spend a lot of time talking about Antarctica’s wildlife, from many species of penguins to seals and amazing whale watching. These are the big charismatic animals that draw expedition cruise travellers to the end of the Earth. But there is one species that’s rarely on people’s draw cards, arguably the most important […]
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When it comes to white weddings, Antarctica could be the most spectacular destination in the world. Exchanging vows against a backdrop of snowy mountains and glaciers is an unforgettable way to start a life together – and the penguins who often serve as marriage witnesses already come dressed in their own black and white wedding […]
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One of the most popular activities on cruises to the Antarctic Peninsula is camping out for the night, curled up in a sleeping bag listening to the sounds of the frozen wilderness. It’s a brief taste of the epic isolation that the continent offers. But those looking for the ultimate adventure can take it one […]
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Port Lockroy is a historic British research base that sits on tiny Goudier island off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Better-known today as the Penguin Post Office, it is maintained by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT), and is a perennially popular place for Antarctic expedition cruise ships to visit when the weather and […]
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