The
Ross Sea is a deep
bay of the
Southern Ocean in
Antarctica between
Victoria Land and
Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered by
James Ross in
1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is
Ross Island with the
Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east
Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered by the
Ross Ice Shelf.
Roald Amundsen started his
South Pole expedition in 1911 from the
Bay of Whales, which was located at the shelf. In the west of the Ross sea,
McMurdo Sound is a port which is usually free of ice during the summer. The southernmost part of the Ross Sea is
Gould Coast, which is approximately two hundred miles from the
Geographic South Pole.
All land masses in the Ross Sea are claimed by Britain and New Zealand to fall under the jurisdiction of the Ross Dependency, but few non-Commonwealth nations recognize this claim.
A 10 metre (32.8 feet) long colossal squid weighing 495 kilograms (1,091 lb) was captured in the Ross Sea on 22 February 2007.
pan id="coordinates" class="plainlinksneverexpand">Coordinates 77°25'17?S, 176°08'33?W
