Watch: Amazing ice 'break-out' at Scott Base

Video footage has captured a spectacular "break-out" of ice outside New Zealand's Scott Base in Antarctica.

A time-lapse, consisting of 1600 images and released by Antarctica New Zealand, shows ice in front of the Ross Island outpost breaking up, flowing out, and then returning again, over the space of 13 hours late last month.

Antarctica New Zealand technical support officer Mark Murphy said the break-up was partially due to the tide, and partially the wind.

When the ice began moving, the base's engineering team had to get up at 2am and lift an intake gantry from the water to ensure it wasn't damaged.

"It was quite strange, as that morning as the team who had lifted the gantry were talking about all the ice breaking out, but to those of us who slept through the night, the ice was all still there."

When a second break-out happened on another night, the ice gently flowed out, but then smashed back into the shore when the wind changed.

Murphy said the base's resident seals seemed "reasonably happily asleep" upon the ice – "but occasionally one would wake up and be confused as to why it was moving".

"Depending on how much other ice is around them, they either jump straight off and swim under all the ice to some more stable stuff, or if they are out in open water, they anxiously look around to make sure they can't see any orca before getting in."