Antarctica's 'Bloody Falls' Is An Otherworldly Spectacle Featuring A Haunting Waterfall Phenomenon

Deep in the white continent, in the icy desert where the frigid summer wind whips at the snow and the midnight sun hangs low in the sky but never sets, a single splash of color draws the eye. A shocking red liquid gushes from the glacier, staining the snow and spilling out across the rocky ground. This unnerving place has a name to match: Blood Falls. For a long time, the cause of this unearthly phenomenon hidden deep in Antarctica was unknown; an ominous mystery in an inhospitable land. Today, however, scientists have learned the secret of Blood Falls. It isn't an ancient curse or a hideous premonition: it's an ecosystem.

Visiting Antarctica might be a once-in-a-lifetime dream trip for most travelers who brave this desolate landscape, but to find out the truth about Blood Falls, one microbial ecologist named Dr. Jill Mickucki spent nearly three years there. The water from the glacier is filled with tiny particles of iron, which oxidize in the air, making it appear red. But why is there iron there at all? While Blood Falls might be an almost otherworldly sight, the truly fascinating environment might actually be the one lurking beneath the surface, within the glacier. As explained by Mikucki to The Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology, this briny glacial water is packed with microbes that survive by eating subglacial rock and releasing iron into the water. These tiny organisms survive in one of the harshest environments on planet Earth, a constantly freezing place utterly devoid of light, and to the eyes of human visitors, the open, gory wound in the glacier is the only sign that they exist. 

With popular Antarctic cruises taking travelers from the black sands of Deception Island and the luxe resort, Wolf's Fang, offering ice climbing and abseiling lessons, Antarctica is certainly more accessible to travelers today than it was to explorers when Blood Falls was first discovered in the early 1900s. Blood Falls, however, is not in a popular or easy-to-access part of Antarctica (if such a thing even exists). While most travel to the continent to see snowy landscapes all the way to the horizon, Blood Falls is actually in a remote dry valley. There, in this unusual mountainous landscape, the white ice of Taylor Glacier stands out against the dark, rocky dirt. It's a sight few will ever see. Most who visit do not do so on a whim. They are scientists like Jill Mickucki or photographers seeking a rare shot of Blood Falls. If you're determined enough, however, the remote corners of Antarctica are within reach.

To reach the McCurdo Dry Valleys, where Taylor Glacier is, you will need to contact a company that specializes in taking travelers into Antarctica and book a helicopter tour that can take you into the more remote areas of the continent. If you want to actually land, you will need to follow the protocols. Blood Falls is an Antarctic Specially Protected Area in the Dry Valleys Managed Area, and you will need to carefully clean everything you bring, pack out everything you bring in, and proceed with caution to visit this place, which is mostly untouched by humans. While most will never see the Falls, those who do are often captivated by this place. If Blood Falls is calling to you, the chance to see this place is worth the journey.