Antarctica’s Ross Sea: Majestic Ice & Wildlife

Macquarie Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its major geoconservation significance. It is the only island in the world that is entirely composed of oceanic crust and rocks from the mantel. The unique diversity of the island makes it a truly remarkable place to visit. Sand Bay is located on the east coast where you will find Royal and King Penguin rookeries as well as Southern Elephant Seals, and if the weather permits, you will have the opportunity to get closer on a Zodiac®.

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Macquarie Island is a place that sparks every sense. First smell, then sound… then sight. From a distance, Macquarie’s earth appears to be moving. As Scenic Eclipse approaches you realise that the land is, in fact, heaving – under the weight of millions of penguins.Subject to permits, you will get to see this spectacle of epic proportions, an extraordinary landscape hosting one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in the Southern Ocean. You may witness countless tuxedoed, bushy eyebrowed and golden crowned penguins – king, rockhopper, gentoo and the endemic royal. Or they may you may greet guests who step ashore with squarks and squeaks. Occasionally one flops down for ice surfing, paddling on its belly like a torpedo-shaped toboggan. The youngsters, fluffy, impossibly cute, have the gleeful look of children allowed to stay up past their bedtime for a grown-up gathering.You’re likely to see leopard seals that patrol the waters, southern elephant seals that peek from tussocked dunes, and sooty albatrosses that circle overhead.

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Almost completely mantled by ice, Young Island is the northernmost island in the Balleny archipelago, a 160-kilometre-long chain of volcanic islands (some of them still active) that is a delightful surprise and completely different to the rest of the Antarctic landscape.The Balleny Islands are remote and ravishing, their location straddling the Antarctic Circle leaving them heavily glaciated. Landings aren’t permitted, but in favourable weather conditions you may have the chance to explore by Zodiac for a front-row seat to one of the greatest convergences of wildlife in the world.Humpbacks, fin and minke whales may put on a show while we are nearby, breaching and blowing and slapping their tails. Crabeater, Weddell, elephant and leopard seals loll about, sunbaking between swims. And Adélie and chinstrap penguins march and squark, creating a cacophony that is strangely melodic.Make sure you head to the Observation Deck for an unbroken view or enjoy the comforts of your private verandah to take in every moment navigating this incredible region.

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At the other end of the chain, Sturge is the southernmost island in the Balleny archipelago. Pull out your binoculars or head for the telescopes in the Observation Lounge, because this particular slip of land has been declared and Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.Twitchers will rejoice at spotting the enormous breeding colonies of southern fulmers and snow petrels, which set up base on the ice-free cliffs along the western and northern coasts. Trust your expert Discovery Team for insights about the region and its rich birdlife.

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Be sure to stay close to your verandah as you enter the Ross Sea, as wandering albatross are a common sight – icebergs will begin to pop up around you as well. The pristine, nutrient-rich ocean Scenic Eclipse now navigates is also popular among orcas, seals, penguins and whales.By now, your Discovery Team will likely have hosted an enrichment lecture on the Ross Sea, revealing how rugged and remarkable this body of water is, surrounded by sky-scraping mountains and carved by glacial ice tongues, vast ice shelves and drifting sea ice. Some of the most famous Antarctic explorers – Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen and Borchgrevink among them – used it as a gateway on their quest to the South Pole.Because of the unpredictable ice and weather patterns, your days here unfold as the Captain and your Discovery Team receive condition reports. There will be Zodiacs, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, submersible^ and helicopters^ on standby for whichever destination beckons first.

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It’s hard to imagine a place more remote than Antarctica. But the region’s Possession Island may well be it. If your Captain gives the go-ahead, you could be kayaking and paddling around one of the least-visited islands in Antarctica. Least-visited by humans, that is – it’s home to thousands of penguins, backdropped by the Admiralty Mountains. If you’re an avid photographer, make sure your camera battery is fully charged.Later in the evening, flute of champagne in hand, your Discovery Team will regale you with stories of the birds you’ve come in contact with in this designated Important Bird Area (IBA).

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Throughout your voyage you will have the opportunity to add flightseeing experience in one your Discovery Yacht’s two helicopters^, offering an unrivalled perspective of icebergs and glaciers over the Ross Sea region of Antarctica, including Coulman Island, where overlapping shield volcanoes are completely covered in ice.Throughout your voyage you can also choose an optional excursion to take a deep dive into Antarctic waters in your Discovery Yacht’s custom-built submersible, Scenic Neptune^. The undersea and even under-ice landscape of Antarctica can be a technicolour contrast to the monochrome landscape above the water, thanks to a rich fauna of marine invertebrates.

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Your Discovery Team are also on call to lead more active exploration, words don’t do justice to the emotions you’ll feel gliding across the water while watching a whale breach in the distance. Or perhaps it’s time to brave the Polar Plunge. Pull on your swimsuit, throw off your robe and jump into the near-freezing Southern Ocean with flair – the more dramatic, the better.You’re going to feel invigorated at the end of this split second, once-in-a-lifetime experience. The cold plunge is exhilarating, and the shared experience with your fellow Antarctica ‘plungers’ immensely bonding. That hot drink as you emerge is restorative and reviving. This is an unmissable opportunity, whether enjoyed today or throughout your voyage in Antarctic waters.If the chance arises to venture to land in a Zodiac, you’re also in the privileged position to observe a large community of Adélie penguins and other nesting seabirds in their daily competition to see who has the loudest voice. The Weddell seals, resting on the shore, barely seem to notice.

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Before you venture toward Ross Island – weather plays an important role in deciding if and when you land – sit down with your expert Discovery Team in the ship’s theatre to learn why Sir James Clark Ross and Sir Ernest Shackleton came here on their polar expeditions, and how they built their huts. Both huts are still here today and are classified as an Antarctica historical monument.Even from the suite’s verandah or the Observation Deck, the island exudes natural drama, dominated by Mount Erebus, the southernmost active volcano on Earth and the second-highest volcano in Antarctica. Being here, dwarfed by the vastness of the landscape, puts life into perspective. Continue your contemplation in one of Scenic Eclipse’s nine bars and lounges, comparing photos and stories from your day.

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A row of largely snow-free valleys, the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Ross Island comprise one of the world's most extreme deserts, replete with saline Lake Vida and the Onyx River, a meltwater stream and Antarctica's longest river. Nothing lives here, but it’s a dramatic sight, and the only way to glimpse it is by adding an optional excursion on one of Scenic Eclipse’s helicopters^ – weather permitting, your pilot may even land on this end-of-the-Earth landscape.It's an experience you’ll want to write home about. When you’re back on your Discovery Yacht, do just that, perhaps with a dram in hand in the Whiskey Bar before dinner in one of the yacht’s all-inclusive restaurants.

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All jagged cliffs and ink-black escarpments backed by the towering Admiralty Mountains, the Adare Peninsula is a postcard of natural drama. Much of the spectacle comes courtesy of the 250,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins – the largest colony in Antarctica – that call the region home, making it one of the most jaw-dropping sights of your journey. Which is saying something.Prepare yourself for the Adélie orchestra that you’ll hear as Scenic Eclipse edges close to shore – raucous neighbourhood disputes, high-pitched laughter, impatient hungry youngsters, confident courtship.This is a place that has drawn avid expeditioners for centuries. It was the site of the first documented Antarctic landing on the continent in 1895, and Norwegian explorer Carsten Borchgrevink’s two 1899 huts remain on land. You may have the chance to explore the remains with your Discovery Team, who will take you to shore in Zodiacs for an adventure that hits you in waves and lingers long after you return home.Back on your Discovery Yacht, ease into the evening with your new friends and share today’s discoveries over dinner in one of the restaurants. Perhaps opt for a degustation at Lumière, the ship’s fine-dining establishment, where the food on your plate is as elegant as the décor. Champagne, oysters and caviar at the bar are followed by an impeccable selection of food and wine that will transport you straight to France.

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It’s hard to comprehend the scale of the glaciers you’ll see over the course of your voyage. Like the Mertz Glacier, an enormous hunk of crystalised ice that gleams like a turquoise jewel from a rumpled apron of sea in every shade of blue imaginable. Sunlight cascades over its waves like liquid silver; in the troughs between are shadows of azure.Back in 2010, a massive iceberg with enough freshwater in it to fill Sydney Harbour 135 times over calved from the Mertz Glacial Tongue – it’s now known as Iceberg C-28 because it is the 28th substantial iceberg to have broken off the Antarctic ice shelf, in the quadrant that faces Australia, since 1976.You may also see the Suvorov Glacier, your outlook across bright, silent stillness, stretches of snow and ice tipping away into fathomless distances without the interruption of a single alien feature. There are no trees or shrubs; flora is just a sprinkling of occasional lichen, moss and algae.This is what infinity looks like, and you may have the chance to come near the Glacier with your Discovery Team by Zodiac.

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The Bay of Whales, a former indentation in the Ross Ice Shelf, deserves the name that Shackleton gave it – the waters here are a magnet for migrating whales. Imagine being on a kayak and Zodiac, gliding across mirror-like water when an enormous tail crashing down at a distance. Just try and hold back your awe.Today you may wish to take in the spectacle while soaking up a few rays and incredible vistas from the comfort of your private verandah. Or choose to add an optional excursion on Scenic Eclipse’s helicopters^ and submersible^, revealing the stark beauty of the southern continent from the air and below the surface of the sea.

Clinging to the walls of the natural amphitheater at the west end of Otago Harbour, the South Island’s second-largest city is enriched with inspiring nearby seascapes and wildlife. Because Dunedin is a university town, floods of students give the city a vitality far greater than its population of 122,000 might suggest. Its manageable size makes it easy to explore on foot—with the possible exception of Baldwin Street, the world’s steepest residential street and home to the annual “gutbuster” race, in which people run up it, and the “Jaffa” race, in which people roll the namesake spherical chocolate candy down it.Dunedin, the Gaelic name for Edinburgh, was founded in 1848 by settlers of the Free Church of Scotland, a breakaway group from the Presbyterian Church. The city’s Scottish roots are still visible; you’ll find New Zealand’s first and only (legal) whisky distillery, a statue of Scottish poet Robert Burns, and more kilts, sporrans, and gillies than you can shake a stick at! The Scottish settlers and local Māori came together in relative peace, but this wasn’t true of the European whalers who were here three decades before, as places with names such as Murdering Beach illustrate.Dunedin has always had a reputation for the eccentric. Wearing no shoes and a big beard here marks a man as bohemian rather than destitute, and the residents wouldn’t have it any other way. The University of Otago was the country’s first university and has been drawing writers ever since its founding in 1871, most notably Janet Frame and the poet James K. Baxter. Dunedin also has a musical heritage, which blossomed into the “Dunedin Sound” of the 1970s and ’80s.

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Your voyage ends in Dunedin – knowing there’s still nothing between you and Antarctica but swathes of icy ocean. After breakfast, it’s time to bid farewell to your intrepid new friends and your incredible Scenic Eclipse crew, who have made your voyage so remarkable.  Transfer to the airport for your flight to the UK.Please book your flight to depart out of Dunedin after 12:00 PM.