Author: Paul

Very few people get to go scuba diving in Antarctica. The extreme cold water conditions mean that it’s a location reserved for experienced divers, but for those who are able to meet the challenge, it can be like no diving location on earth.  For some divers however, the idea of diving in Antarctica isn’t enough. […]

If you take an ice cube out of your freezer, you’ll see that it’s full of tiny bubbles: microscopic pockets of air that were trapped in the water the last time you refilled the ice cube tray, a week or a few months ago. Pluck a piece of floating glacial ice out of the water […]

The Subantarctic island of South Georgia is a marvel of the natural world. It’s a hundred mile long mountain range that erupts out of the Southern Ocean, with more marine wildlife than anywhere else on the planet. Penguins and fur seals here are counted by the million. It’s a scene that’s all the more extraordinary […]

Antarctica is one of the greatest whale watching destinations on the planet. There are few feelings quite so ecstatic as the joyful surprise when a humpback whale silently surfaces near your zodiac, and then fills the air with a krill-flavoured mist as it explosively exhales through its blowhole.  Their recovery after years of exploitation is […]

When choosing an Antarctic expedition cruise, people often concentrate on the ship and its amenities alongside the itinerary, but there is one element that’s all too often overlooked but that we believe, can transform a simple voyage into something truly extraordinary – the guiding team.  Expedition Guides bring an amazing wealth of polar experience to […]

At Swoop, we firmly believe that tourism can have a positive impact on both people and the planet, and that protecting the destinations we travel to should be at the heart of everything we do. As well as being a registered B Corp, we’re proud to be associate members of the International Association of Antarctic […]

Two and a half years ago, the world marvelled at the news of the discovery of the wreck of the Endurance, the ship that was centre stage for the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s greatest Antarctic triumph and tragedy. Organised and funded by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, the Endurance22 expedition found the ship more than […]

If you were looking down from space, it would appear that every winter the Antarctic continent more than doubles in size. That’s because the ocean around it freezes over creating a vast curtain of sea ice. It’s one of the planet’s most extraordinary seasonal cycles and it plays an important but little understood role in […]