In an age of satellites and Google Earth, it’s easy to believe that our planet has been fully charted, named, and neatly cataloged. But look closer, and you’ll find that Earth still holds mysteries and places where no human has stood, no ship has sailed, and no name has been etched into the map. At EYOS, these are the places we seek. These are the “last firsts.”
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Exploration Isn’t Over — It’s Evolved
Exploration today isn’t about planting flags or racing to the poles. It’s about curiosity without conquest.
We aren’t navigating by sextant, but by satellite and sonar. We aren’t guessing what lies beyond the horizon; we’re going there, equipped with icebreakers, helicopters, submersibles, and the unmatched experience of expedition leaders who have spent their lives chasing the edges of the known world.
From the high ice of the East Antarctic Plateau to uncharted fjords in the Arctic, there are still first landings to be made, first descents into ocean trenches, and first observations of unstudied marine species. Our teams have discovered underwater volcanoes off the coast of Tonga, surveyed seamounts in the Ross Sea, and landed on remote South Pacific atolls that have never seen a footprint.
For those who join EYOS on an expedition, these firsts aren’t reserved for scientists or explorers. They’re for anyone with a sense of wonder, a respect for the wild, and a desire to see the world not as a checklist—but as a question still unfolding.
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What Will Your “First” Be?
Will it be the first ski descent of an unnamed peak in Greenland? A landing in a cove in Antarctica so remote it’s not even on the charts? A deep dive into a biologically unstudied trench? Or simply your first time seeing the world not through a screen, but with your boots on the ice, your eyes scanning the horizon, and your senses wide open?
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Witnessing the 2026 Total Solar Eclipse in Greenland
On August 12, 2026, Greenland will host one of the most extraordinary celestial events of the decade: a total solar eclipse arching across its glaciated wilderness. Aboard Hanse Explorer, you’ll be perfectly positioned in the path of totality — surrounded by icebergs, fjords, and a horizon untouched by light pollution. Experience totality from the deck of a private expedition yacht, where the sun’s disappearance turns the ice and sea to shades of deep twilight.
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Deep Seamounts of the Ross Sea, Antarctica
Even now, the Southern Ocean conceals geological formations unknown to science. In 2022, EYOS supported the discovery of a previously uncharted underwater volcano during a sub-sea mapping project in the Ross Sea. Vast stretches of seabed here remain unexplored. Your first could be launching a submersible to survey an unstudied marine ecosystem, part of one of the world’s largest marine protected areas.
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Tribal Islands of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Sea
In the island arc stretching from Vanuatu to PNG, there are still islands where oral traditions are the only form of history, and where anthropologists rarely tread. Many reefs here remain biologically unstudied. Take your opportunity to meet communities untouched by tourism or dive unexplored coral reefs alongside local guides and marine biologists.
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Sub-Antarctic Wildlife Hotspots
While Antarctica draws global attention, sub-Antarctic islands like South Georgia and Macquarie Island are among the most ecologically significant and least visited places on the planet. The region’s combination of remoteness, the complexity of the underwater terrain, the extreme conditions, and the cost of deep-sea exploration mean that many undersea features and their associated ecosystems around sub-Antarctic islands likely remain unexplored or at least poorly understood. In addition to visiting the popular king penguin colonies on South Georgia, you can also explore these uncharted regions and continue to help document these exciting regions, possibly documenting a new seamount for the first time.
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High Ice of East Antarctica
The central plateau of East Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and most remote region on the planet. While the coasts see scientific activity, the interior remains almost entirely inaccessible. Imagine camping at the South Pole or even farther inland, where temperatures drop below -50°C and the landscape is endless, wind-carved and white.
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Unclimbed Peaks of Eastern Greenland
While much of the Alps have been skied and summited thousands of times, the towering granite spires and glaciated ridgelines of Greenland remain largely untouched. Some mountains in the Schweizerland Alps and Scoresby Sound region are unnamed, unmapped, and entirely unclimbed, perfect for a helicopter-assisted ski descent on a peak no one has stood atop, guided by EYOS polar experts and mountain safety teams.
