Author: Paul

Paul came to Swoop after spending nearly 20 years researching and writing guidebooks for Lonely Planet. On his most recent trip for Swoop, he fell in love with the epic landscapes and uncountable wildlife of South Georgia.

Planning & Tips

The 50 best books about Antarctica

For writers, Antarctica has proved an almost inexhaustible source of inspiration. This means that finding the best books on Antarctica can be a challenge. With that in mind, we’ve produced a reading list to help you navigate your way through the bookshelves, by setting out our 50 favourite Antarctic books.  From biographies of the early […]

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Planning & Tips

What is the best wildlife guide for your Antarctica cruise?

Antarctica is one of the world’s great wildlife watching destinations, and even more so if you add the island of South Georgia into the mix. But for the first time visitor it’s not always easy to work out what you’re seeing. The different types of penguin sort themselves out pretty quickly, but there are times […]

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Stories & Inspiration

How to count penguins from space

One of the biggest attractions of travelling to Antarctica is getting to see wildlife that has no natural fear of humans. But you don’t always have to get up close to appreciate the penguins and seals: some of the most interesting scientific research can be done from a very long way away indeed. We spoke […]

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Epic Adventures

Visiting Scott and Shackleton’s huts in the Ross Sea

Tales from the heroic era of polar exploration have inspired travellers to Antarctica for a century. The names of Captain Robert Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton remain talismans for many people planning their trips today.  The huts that these early explorers used as bases for their attempts to reach the South Pole still stand today, […]

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Stories & Inspiration

An introduction to citizen science on Antarctic cruise ships

Citizen science is becoming an increasingly popular addition to many Antarctic expedition cruises, but there’s often a lot of confusion about exactly what it entails. In this new Swoop Antarctica series we’re taking a deep dive into the subject to explore all the different citizen projects it’s currently possible to take part in while on […]

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Stories & Inspiration

Antarctica’s fin whales: are their numbers finally in recovery?

Last November I was lucky enough to visit Elephant Island, that bleak mountainous outcrop at the farthest tip of the South Shetlands that points the way from the Antarctic Peninsula to South Georgia.  Elephant Island is forever famous as the location where the stranded men of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition sheltered while ‘the Boss’ […]

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