July’s photo of the month has been submitted by CAGE early career researcher Mariana da Silveira Ramos Esteves of the UK, taken approximately 200 km off the Amundsen Sea while participating in IODP Expedition 379 in winter/spring 2019.
Scientists on board had the pleasure of watching the sun set behind nearby icebergs, in the company of a curious humpback whale – its spout can be seen to the bottom left of the photo. To say this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience would be an understatement.
The purpose of the cruise was to recover sedimentary records from the continental shelf and rise of the Amundsen Sea to determine how ice in the region has behaved in the past, as it is an area unaffected by other ice sheets while currently experiencing the largest ice mass loss in Antarctica. You can read more about it in our press release published in February.
Photo Credit: Mariana da Silveira Ramos Esteves
