Dear Eos:
The ocean around Antarctica is critical to ocean circulation, climate, and ecosystems. There, vast quantities of heat and anthropogenic carbon are drawn down from the atmosphere and stored at depth, thus moderating the rate of global climate change.
Key processes that control this drawdown occur during Antarctic winter and are governed by sea ice. But data from this time of year are still extremely sparse because of the hostile conditions that prevail then.
On our expedition in May–June 2025, we experienced the power of Antarctic winter. The photo shows the United Kingdom’s polar research vessel, RRS Sir David Attenborough, breaking through sea ice at night and in blizzard conditions to transit between ocean sampling sites.
The skill and professionalism of the officers and crew were truly impressive and enabled the collection of a remarkable and priceless dataset.
—Michael Meredith, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, U.K.