Photograph of McMurdo Sound with melting icebergs in the foreground which are reflected in the sea. In the background is the "Terra Nova" and in the far distance the western mountains of Victoria Land. Ponting took this view of the Terra Nova while standing on the shifting ice floes. The ship had reached Antarctica only a few days previously and Ponting was enthusiastically exploring the area. He was impressed by the ice formations in the foreground, which show a berg in the final stages of melting.