Expedition to 'Hidden' Antarctic Ecosystem Turned Back by Heavy Ice

Dense sea ice has forced the British-led scientific expedition to turn back from their journey to the Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Scientists on their way to investigate a mysterious region of Antarctica's seafloor, hidden by thick ice for 120,000 years, have run into an obstacle: Their research ship has been forced to turn north, after dense sea ice prevented it from reaching the southern Larsen C ice-shelf.

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) announced today (March 2) that the captain of the research vessel RRS James Clark Ross had made the "difficult decision" to turn back from the Larsen C region after encountering pack sea ice up to 16 feet (5 meters) thick.

The thick ice has slowed the ship to a few miles a day, and they were running out of time in the Antarctic's brief summer to reach the Larsen C area and complete a marine survey. The seafloor alongside the ice-shelf was exposed last year after the calving of the giant iceberg known as A-68. [In Photos: Antarctica's Larsen C Ice Shelf Through Time]

"We knew that getting through the sea ice to reach Larsen C would be difficult," BAS expedition leader and marine biologist Katrin Linse said in a statement. "Naturally, we are disappointed not to get there, but safety must come first."

"The captain and crew have been fantastic and pulled out all the stops to get us to the ice shelf, but our progress became too slow, with just 8 kilometers [5 miles] traveled in 24 hours, and we still had over 400 kilometers [250 miles] to travel," Linse said. "Mother Nature has not been kind to us on our mission."