Antarctica–Expedition to the Ross Sea EP7: Amundsen & our furthest south world record attempt

Our expedition included a rare extension east to the Bay of Whales in the Ross Ice Shelf. It was from there that Amundsen and his team set out to become the first people to reach the South Pole. It was a risky venture across entirely unknown terrain, unlike the route from Scott’s Hut, but it had the big advantage of being 60 miles closer to the Pole.

Amundsen built a small base on the ice shelf, called “Framheim” or “home of Fram”, named after his ship. The base has long since sunk to the bottom of the ocean because the ice shelf has retreated nine nautical miles due to global warming.

The Bay of Whales itself is nothing more than a large southerly indent in the face of the ice shelf. It was first seen by British explorer James Clark Ross in 1842. Fellow countryman Ernest Shackleton named the feature on January 24, 1908, during the Nimrod Expedition, because of the large number of whales seen near this location.

It is sad to think that, although the Humpback Whale has recently been taken off the endangered species list, the populations of other whale species have not recovered. We did not see a single whale during our visit to the Bay of Whales. As we passed the location of Framheim it was also sad to realize how far the massive Ross Ice Shelf has retreated since Amundsen’s day.

Although it takes a long time to steam from McMurdo Sound to the Bay of Whales and back (350 nautical miles each way), it was truly exciting. The ocean froze over, the temperature plummeted, icebergs and fog were everywhere. Creeping into the Bay of Whales in these conditions, searching for the elusive barrier of the ice shelf, and wondering if we were going to break the world record for the furthest south ever penetrated by ship, kept us on a keen edge.

Cruise run by Heritage Expeditions, New Zealand.