The Weddell’s wild savagery is written in lore. “The Weddell Sea is, according to the testimony of all who have sailed through its berg-filled waters, the most treacherous and dismal region on earth,” wrote historian, Thomas R Henry in 1950. 

Not all feel that way, however, dear Thomas, because its magnificent scenery and epic history is something to behold. For many guests who sail here it’s a return voyage to Antarctica driven by the sense of adventure it inspires. There is always a Plan B if an icebound Weddell is inaccessible, as it’s a short U-turn back to the Bellingshausen Sea to explore the western side of the peninsula. Signing up to sail the Weddell, though, is thoroughly worth the gamble, just as many brave expeditioners have done so in the past. This was the sea that held Shackleton and his Endurance crew locked in ice for months before their ship was crushed and sank during the 1914-16 Imperial Transantarctic Expedition. The men survived exposure on makeshift camps floating on sea ice before escaping the Weddell to Elephant Island during a twenty-month ordeal. The sunken ship was rediscovered in fine condition recently during the Endurance 22 mission in 2022.

Sailing close by the peninsula’s continental gnarled eastern side, known as Graham Land, passing Adelie penguin colonies numbering tens of thousands, all expedition cruises aim to reach Snow Hill. This is the focal point for perhaps the most under-the-radar tale in Antarctic history – the expedition of Otto Nordenskjöld. Sweden’s first scientific south polar expedition entered the Weddell Sea in 1901 to deliberately overwinter for research purposes. They chose Snow Hill. Today, in front of a fossil canyon, which is fascinating to hike, Nordenskjöld’s original hut remains perfectly preserved. Yet he and his science colleagues would spend two winters there because the ship that came to collect them, Antarctic, was crushed and sunk by the ice-floe. The ship’s crew was scattered over two different locations, in Hope Bay, and Paulet Island, where remains exist today of their hastily assembled stone huts. All were eventually rescued in 1903 by the Argentine navy. 

The site of the Endurance wreck is too far south to be reached, but there’s another holy grail that a few ships try to reach each year—Antarctica’s northernmost colony of emperor penguins. This colony of approximately 4000 pairs lies just south of Snow Hill and requires an onboard helicopter to reach it. 

Leopard seal: These huge earless seals with razor-sharp teeth draw gasps whenever they torpedo by vessels. It’s not uncommon for these 4 metre-long seals to do laps around your zodiac. Cruisers down here will know them for their brutal and bloodcurdling attacks on penguins, which they toss around like rag dolls to remove their skin.

Other wildlife: One of the joys of this sea is seeing the eponymous Weddell seal, with its dark coat and doe-eyed stares, hauled out on ice. It’s not impossible to see crabeater seals, often in small groups, as well as two other penguin species – gentoo and chinstrap.

Birdlife: Diversity is not sky-high, but the abundance ensures you’ll see familiar faces repeatedly. Southern giant petrels are large heavyset predators who, like skuas, menace the penguin colonies attempting to snatch their eggs or young. Wilson’s storm petrels are dainty and dance across the sea surface, while Antarctic terns are an ethereal presence. A true oddity and bearing a rather unfortunate moniker of ‘sh*t chickens’ is the snowy sheathbill.  This curious white bird rather unpleasantly scavenges penguin faeces and regurgitated krill.

Whale watching

To date I have seen two species of whale in the Weddell Sea. The ubiquitous humpbacks of course, I saw them frolicking last voyage around the fractured sea ice. My biggest thrill though was a small family pod of six orcas. Our naturalist identified them as ecotype-B orcas due to a slight yellow staining around their flank’s saddle patches. The delineation of this orca ecotype is also down to their hunting of seals around the ice.