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Quick Facts about Weddell Sea
The Weddell Sea is situated between Antarctica Peninsula on the west and Coats Land on the east. The extreme south is Filchner and Ronne ice shelves. The total area of the Weddell Sea is about 1.08 million square miles.
The Weddell Sea is usually heavily iced. Early ship exploration efforts were hindered by pack ice until James Weddell reached the area on Feb 20, 1823. So the name of Weddell Sea was proposed to be named after its discoverer.
The Weddell Sea is abundant with whales and seals. The Adelie penguin is the dominant penguin species in the area. A colony of more than a 100,000 pairs of Adelies were found on Paulet Island. In 1997, an emperor penguin colony was discovered just south of Snow Hill Island.
Top 5 Reasons to Visit Weddell Sea
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The ice choked Weddell Sea is rarely visited with only handful voyages
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Sail past the Tabular Icebergs that calved off ice shelves
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Visit a huge Adelie penguin rockery on Paulet Island
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Look for breeding Emperor penguins south of Snow Hill Island
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The greatest rescue story of Shackleton's ship Endurance started here when it was trapped in ice on Jan 18, 1915.