Author: Paul

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 […]

When it comes to Antarctic wildlife, penguins, seals and whales grab all the attention but there is one species that visitors are unlikely to see but without whom the entire ecosystem would be vastly different. To celebrate World Krill Day on August 11 we spoke to krill biologist Dr Kim Bernard, who is currently over-wintering […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

One of the best wildlife experiences I had when I visited South Georgia last year was also one of the most unexpected. I was standing in the tussac grass at Salisbury Plain, almost deafened by the metallic trumpeting of its enormous king penguin colony, when one of the guides told me to look up. As […]

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’ […]

One of my favourite places in Grytviken in South Georgia is somewhere overlooked. Tucked into an anteroom of the Norwegian Church is the old whaling station’s forgotten library. After browsing the shelves, you can flick through 1950s registration books to discover which whalers were the most avid readers. It’s a gently moving experience: while nature […]