Whale Bay - Ross Ice Shelf Bay , north of Roosevelt Island , in Antarctica .
| Whale Bay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Specifications | |
| Bay Type | bay |
| Location | |
| Upstream water area | Sea Ross |
| Continent |
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The bay was discovered in 1841 by the expedition of James Clark Ross . It was called Kitova ( Bay of Whales ) by the British polar explorer Ernest Shackleton , who observed many whales playing here from the side of his ship Nimrod on January 24, 1908. Shackleton excluded the bay as a place for possible parking and camps. Nevertheless, from the very beginning of the 20th century, the shores of the bay have been used in polar research.
In 1911, Whale Bay ( Framheim Base) served as the starting point for the successful expedition of Royal Amundsen to the South Pole . Amundsen found that the bay has not changed much since the expedition of J.K. Ross in 1841 and considered the ice of Whale Bay to be stable enough to use as a base. In 1928-1930 , the American expedition of R. Byrd ( Little America base) worked in Whale Bay. In 1934, Byrd found that the bay is located at the interface between two different ice systems, the movement of which is determined by their position relative to Roosevelt Island.
In 1939-1941 , events and studies were conducted in the Whale Bay as part of the US Antarctic Program .