Media Releases

Explore the future of Antarctica in new podcast

Released at 10:31 am on 6 March 2025

Image of white ice with light wave lines in the top left and bottom right corners with small penguins walking across the ice . The words 'Voice of the Sea Ice' appears in the middle of the image.

Photo: Anthony Powell

Step into a frozen world with New Zealand researchers investigating the future of Antarctica with a new podcast Voice of the Sea Ice launching today.

From Scott's tragic expedition to the establishment of Scott Base, to the modern-day ambitious science projects being led by New Zealand researchers, Antarctica has been a place of adventure, struggle, mystery, wonder and superlatives: the driest, the coldest, the windiest, the most inhospitable.

It's the fifth largest continent in the world - 14 million square kilometres, and every year the ocean around it freezes, effectively doubling its size before melting again come summer. This is the Antarctic 'heartbeat', and it impacts the entire planet. But the last few years have seen unusually low sea ice extents in Antarctica, and scientists are sounding the alarm. Is this a blip, or a trend?

Host Claire Concannon says it was an incredible experience to visit Antarctica and meet the researchers down there.

“From epic voyages dodging the crevasses of the Ross Ice Shelf, to camping on sea ice to study the life found within it, I’m excited to share stories of New Zealand science in the most extreme of environments.”

The episodes span the types of ice found in Antarctica, the annual cycle of sea ice that’s so important for regulating the planet’s climate, the life found on, in and under the ice, plus what’s happening to the ice now as our planet warms, and what we should or could do about it.

 

Along the way we meet both experienced Antarctic researchers and first-timers on the ice and learn that for all the fears that stem from what climate science is telling us, there’s also room for hope and joy.

Voice of the Sea Ice is out every Thursday from 6 March at rnz.co.nz/podcasts, on podcast apps and on RNZ National across the week.

Voice of the Sea Ice will be launched in RNZ’s first dedicated podcast 'super feed'. Called Wild Sounds, this super or umbrella feed will be home to RNZ’s best science and nature series and available on all podcast apps. Voice of the Sea Ice will be joined by the popular Voice of the Iceberg, last year’s stunning Voice of Tangaroa, as well as classic series Voice of the Kākāpō and Voices from Antarctica.

Reporting for this series was supported by Antarctica New Zealand’s Community Engagement Programme.