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Five Birds You Might See on Your Greenland Cruise
A Greenland expedition cruise offers birdwatchers a unique opportunity to capture stunning avian photographs. With over 230 bird species, Greenland boasts both spectacular landscapes and diverse winged wildlife.
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Amphibian, reptiles and herbivore mammals in the Arctic
Arctic ecosystems are relatively young in geological terms, having primarily developed over the past three million years. Generally, species richness is lower in the Arctic compared to more southerly regions, aligning with scientific observations that biodiversity decreases from the Equator to the poles.
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Weddell Sea, Shackleton’s Endurance, and New Swabia
Our Antarctica 2023-24 cruise program is packed with incredible expeditions, including a new itinerary that explores key locations such as South Georgia, the Weddell Sea, and the more easterly region of New Swabia (Neuschwabenland).
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The Wonderful Weddell Sea: Places, Pics, and Impressions
When we talk about Antarctica, it’s easy to slip into familiar words: amazing, astounding, extraordinary, exceptional. And though most Antarctic locations more than deserve these descriptions, some deserve them more than others.
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Adding Antarctica to Your Seven-Continents Bucket List
Many travelers aspire to visit all seven continents, a goal that fits naturally with the concept of a "bucket list," a term popularized by the 2007 movie.
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Taking the Polar Plunge
There are some human activities that for many people simply defy understanding: We juggle chainsaws, we breathe fire, we fling ourselves out of perfectly good airplanes.
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Six Must-See Svalbard Sites
It's home to humanity's last-ditch supply of crop seeds, the world's northernmost settlement of over 1,000 people, and it is one of the best places on Earth to spot a polar bear.
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The Seven Best Things to Do in Antarctica
Unless you’re a scientist, there’s no such thing as a means-to-an-end trip to Antarctica.
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Arctic Flowers, Trees, and Other Plant Life
When many people think of the Arctic, they probably imagine a stark white wasteland devoid of anything except snow, glaciers, and the occasional far-wandering polar bear.
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Light in the Land of the Midnight Sun
The midnight sun, also referred to as the polar day, is a fascinating natural event observed within the Arctic and Antarctic circles. During the polar summer, the sun remains above the horizon for 24 hours a day, resulting in continuous daylight without any sunrise or sunset. This phenomenon occurs due to the Earth's seasonal tilt towards the sun during the summer months in these regions.
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The South Georgia Seven: Hikes, Fjords, Whales, & Penguins
Few places encapsulate such a staggeringly rich assortment of sub-Antarctic scenery, wildlife, and outing opportunities as South Georgia.
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Arctic and Antarctic Basecamp Cruises – Choose Your Own Adventure
There’s an astonishing variety of activities to choose from when planning an Arctic trip or Antarctic cruise, which can be a bit overwhelming. How do you choose just one voyage over another when you want to experience everything? Happily, you don’t have to give up one activity for another. Basecamp cruises have you covered.
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Scenes from St. Andrews Bay: 12 Pics of Penguins, Seals, and More
If you ever find yourself exploring the breathtaking sub-Antarctic island chain of South Georgia, one of the most captivating spots you'll encounter is the picturesque shoreline of St. Andrews Bay.
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Taking a polar expedition cruise delivers no shortage of show-stopping highlights, but one of the most exhilarating is lifting off from the ship in a helicopter and taking flight over the incomparable Antarctic wilderness.
Embarking on a polar expedition cruise offers a plethora of breathtaking experiences, but one of the most thrilling is taking off from the ship in a helicopter and soaring over the stunning Antarctic wilderness.
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Peaks, Fjords, and Auroras: 14 East Greenland Attractions
There really aren’t enough superlatives for East Greenland.
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Gough Island: Seabird Capital of the South Atlantic
Gough Island is a remote volcanic island in the South Atlantic, uninhabited except for a small party of meteorologists and (sometimes) biologists.
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Polar bear encounter in Spitsbergen
I watch the sea ice from the bridge of a ship in one of the fjords of Spitsbergen, an archipelago north of Norway. I observe a perfectly adapted animal moving on the ice, the results of hundreds of thousands of years of ecological fine-tuning. Snowshoe-sized paws distribute weight, fur handles the cold and sunlight to perfection, and an incredible sense of smell samples this monochromatic realm.
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Humpback Whales: the Stars of the Western Antarctic Peninsula
The marine ecosystem of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) stretches from the Bellingshausen Sea to the northern tip of the peninsula. This region includes the Antarctic Sea Ice Zone, a highly productive area that supports large populations of marine mammals, birds, and Antarctic krill. One of the highlights of this region, which you can observe on a whale-spotting Antarctica cruise, is the humpback whale.
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Six Seal Species You Might See On Your Greenland Cruise
If you spot a grand old whiskered man lounging in solitary splendor, there's a good chance you're looking at a bearded seal. Your Greenland cruise will take you to bays where these solitary fellows (except during breeding season) hunt for fish in the relatively shallow waters near the shores.
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The Norse Settlement of Greenland
Erik the Red is a significant and vibrant figure in the history of the Norse Vikings. His story is primarily documented in the Icelandic Sagas Huaksbók (14th Century) and Skalhóltsbók (15th Century). These accounts offer slightly different versions of events that occurred 3-400 years earlier. The original saga of Erik the Red is believed to have been written around 1200 A.D., with the Skalhóltsbók version considered closest to the original. Additionally, Flateyjarbók (13th Century), which includes the Saga of the Greenlanders, is a crucial source for understanding the settlement of Greenland and the discovery of Vinland – North America.