Snow Petrel

The snow petrel is the sole member of its genus, Pagodroma, and it turns up wherever pack ice meets open water. On our voyages that usually means the fringes of the Weddell Sea and the narrow, berg-choked waters of the Antarctic Sound, where small flocks wheel low over the ship from November through March. Its plumage is entirely white, which makes it almost vanish against snow and only reappear as it banks against dark cliffs or open sea.

Further south, past the Antarctic Circle, sightings become more frequent as the ship pushes into the bird's true breeding range. This is a species that nests further inland and further south than any other bird alive, including sites close enough to the pole that it shares the distinction of having been seen at the Geographic South Pole itself, alongside only the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua.

Travellers rarely see snow petrels on land, since their nesting sites are tucked into remote nunataks and cliff faces, but they are a near-constant companion at sea in these latitudes, gliding on stiff wings just above the wave crests.