Bay of Whales

Ice breaker research vessel using the Whales Bay ice harbor

The Bay of Whales is a natural ice harbor, or iceport, indenting the front of Ross Ice Shelf just north of Roosevelt Island. It is the southernmost point of open ocean not only of the Ross Sea, but worldwide. The Ross Sea does extend much further south, but that area is covered by the Ross Ice Shelf.

Discovery and naming

The feature was named by Ernest Shackleton in the Nimrod on January 24, 1908, because of the large number of whales seen at this location.

The Bay of Whales served as the base for several important Antarctic expeditions, including:

• 1910–1912: Amundsen's South Pole expedition, led by Roald Amundsen
• 1928–1930: Richard Evelyn Byrd – First expedition
• 1933–1935: Richard Evelyn Byrd – Second expedition
• 1939–1941: United States Antarctic Service Expedition, led by Richard Evelyn Byrd

The configuration of the Bay of Whales is continuously changing. A survey by the Byrd expedition in 1934 determined that the feature lay at the junction of two separate ice systems, the movements of which are influenced by the presence of Roosevelt Island. Commander Glen Jacobsen, USN, who visited in the USS Atka in January 1955, found that calving of the ice shelf rendered the iceport temporarily unusable.

Bay of Whales

See also

• Framheim
• Walvisbaai (synonymous name, but tropical: in southwest Africa)
• Ice pier
• Atka Iceport
• Erskine Iceport
• Godel Iceport
• Norsel Iceport

References

•  This article incorporates public domain material from "Whales, Bay of". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.