Antarctica
Published on Nov 22, 2015
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ANTARCTICA: THE FROZEN KINGDOM
BY GRISHA MOUROMTSEV
Some Information on Antarctica:
The continent is 14 million square km.
If all of the Antarctica ice melts the water will rise by 65m everywhere.
Antarctica was discovered in 1820.
The largest iceberg ever found was 300 km long, and it was
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Photo by Polar Cruises
ANTARCTIC ANIMALS
An Introduction To Antarctic Animals
Many see Antarctica as a giant frozen iceberg or a frosty kingdom, but actually many animals :land and marine, depend on Antarctica's ice, these include seals,penguins,whales,dolphins,fish,krill and many more.
Photo by Liam Quinn
The Orca
The Orca is also known as the Killer Whale.These aggressive predators are distinguished by their black and white colour as well as their smooth bodies.Orca whales reach up to 8 meters in length and females to 7 meters.These predators hunt in groups to trap their prey, speaking of prey; orca's diets consist of squid,fish and marine animals such as seals and penguins.Killing Whales depend on Antarctica as it contains most of their food.Orcas can swim up to speeds of 50km/h!
Photo by Franco Folini
Blue Whale
Blue Whales are the largest animals on this planet.They reach up to 31m in length and weigh on average 120 tons.In one day, a Blue Whale can consume 4 tons of krill.Blue Whales descend to depths of 500m and can reach speeds of 30km/h.Blue Whales' tongues way as much as an elephant and their heart as much as a car.Their blowholes can propel water up to 9m in the air.New born calfs weight about 2,5tons and are 8m in length.
Fin Whale
Fin Whales are one of the largest whales to inhabit Earth's waters, they grow up to 25 meters and have a large lifespan of 90 years.On average they weight 50 tons, but can reach 130 tons.When migrating, Fin Whales swim on average 144 km in a single day but have been recorded to swim 300km.They can swim at speeds of 48km/h but in short bursts.They also have a dive duration of 20 minutes.
Sperm Whale
Sperm whales reach up to 20 meters in length and are the largest toothed predators.They live in pods and have the largest brains of the animal kingdom weighing 9kg.They have a 30cm thick layer of blubber to keep them warm in their freezing environment.Sperm Whales feed on Giant Squids and octopuses.They have large and heavy teeth that weight about 900 grams.These whales get their awkward name from the wax that their spermaceti organ produces and it is located in their head.
Minke Whales
Minke Whales can grow to a length of 10 meters.They have a solitary lifestyle.Their dorsal fins are curved down their backs, like killer whales' ones.Like most whales that live in Antarctica, Minke Whales feed on plankton and krill, sometimes even sardines.Their jaws consist of 300 pairs of baleen plates to filter out krill.Unfortunately they are hunted down and end up expensive dishes in some restaurants.
Sei Whales
Sei Whales grow to lengths between 12-15 meters.They are found far from shore in cold waters.They eat about 900 kilograms of Copepods in a single day.
Humpback Whale
Humpback whales grow up to 16 meters in length and weigh about 40 tons.They reach speeds up to 25km/h . Humpback Whales' diet consists of mainly krill, but plankton and small fish are also included.Humpback whales live up to 50 years.When observed, some strange activity was present such as spyhopping, when the humpback whale pokes it's head out for half a minute to look around, another strange activity was lob tailing that occurred when the whale had its tail in the air and slapped it against the water, making a loud noise which scientists believe gives a warning sign to the rest of the pod.
ANTARCTIC PENGUINS
Photo by Paul Mannix
RockHopper Penguin
Rockhopper penguins only grow up to the size of 50 cm and weigh about 2.5kg.They live in colonies and are extinguished by their yellow spiky hair.They often jump out of water and land on rocks with a belly flop.Like most penguins they feed on crustaceans and small fish, they really depend on Antarctica for their survival.
Adelie Penguins
Adelie Penguins have a fairly large lifespan for their size (70cm) of 20 years.They are capable of diving up to depths of 175 meters.They are considered overweight which is due to their short but wide appearance and eat krill and silverfish.They are known to steal rocks from their neighbours.
Gentoo Penguin
Gentoo penguins are distinguished by their red bill and white patches above their eyes.They breed in pairs in colonies of 30 pairs to thousands of pairs.They reach sizes of 80 cm and weigh on average 8 kg.They make their nests out of dried herbs,mosses and rocks.As all animals living in the Antarctic, they really depend on their habitat to supply them the basics for their survival.
Emperor Penguin
Emperor penguins are the largest penguins out of all penguins.They reach 120cm in height and weigh anywhere from 20 to 40 kg.Emperor penguins are quick and magnificent swimmers that swim up to 11km/h, they are the deepest divers of all birds reaching depths of 565meters and are capable of holding their breath for 20 minutes.They are perfectly adapted to their environment as they have 4 layers of feathery scales that work as a waterproof coat and thick layers of fat for warmth and energy.
King Penguins
King Penguins are the second largest penguins at 100 cm in height and 20kg in weight.Their chicks appear quite often to be larger than their parents as they are full of thick brown fur.King Penguins are also great divers and are recorded at depths of 300 meters.They have bright colours and their population is estimated to be about 2 million.
ANARCTIC SEALS
Crabeater Seals
Unlike their name suggests, Crabeater Seals don't feed on crabs but on krill.Crabeater Seals reach 2,5 meters in length and weigh around 250 kg.They change colors throughout the seasons of the year.Crabeater Seals have small points on their teeth to filter krill from the water easily.They are the seals that are most numerous in the world.
Leopard Seal
A Leopard Seal's skin pattern reassembles to the one of a Leopard's.Leopard Seals are the second largest species of seal as they are around 3 meters in length and weigh about 500 kg.Their diet is similar to most seals' as they feed on fish and krill but they love eating penguins too.Leopard Seals don't face any challenges to catch their prey as they are fast in water as well as on land.
Weddell Seals
Weddell Seals live under fast-ice to escape from their predators who are Leopard Seals and Killer Whales.They are carnivores and feed on squid and large fish weigh up to 50 kg.They are about 3 meters in length and weigh 500 kg.
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Southern Elephant Seal
The Southern Elephant Seal is the largest Antarctic Seal coming in at 6 meters in length and weighing up to 4 000 kg!They have a much larger lifespan than their relatives the Northern Elephant Seal who only lives 9 years as they live 22 years.Elephant Seals have their name not due to their size but their trunk-like snout.These seals use their force to inflict pain during battles that they have between each other for mating partners.
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Southern Fur Seal
The Southern Fur Seal lives in colonies and have an average lifespan ranging anywhere from 12-30 years.They have sharp eyesight and good hearing to get an advantage over both their prey and predators.Although most of them range in sizes of about 2 meters, they grow up to 3 meters and weigh up to 300 kg.
BIRDS IN ANTRACRTICA
Albatross
The Albatross has a huge wingspan of 3 meters as well as it's lifespan of 50 years.They weigh about 12 kg.They live 21 000 pairs and inhabit the southern seas.They feed on marine animals such as fish and squid and build their nests out of mud as well as various dried herbs and plants.19 species of Albatrosses are already threatened.
Sheathbills
Sheathbills are much smaller than Albatrosses, they have a wingspan of 50 cm and usually weigh less than 1 kg.As they aren't the strongest out of birds, they have difficulties hunting which means that they mostly feed on egg and carcasses.Unlike most birds that inhabit Antarctica, Sheathbills don't have webbed feet meaning indicating that they prefer to scavenge and steal food than to kill prey.
Wilson's Storm-Petrels
Wilson's Storm-Petrels are fairly small as their body size is 18cm in length.Most parts of their bodies are brown except for an area between their backs and tails which is white.The way that these birds hunt for food is by putting their beaks into their water during their flight and scooping out food such as fish and small crustaceans.
Cormorants
Cormorants have a wingspan of one meter and a varied lifespan. They live in thousands of pairs.Cormorants' diets consist of fish and invertebrates.They build their nests on cliff tops out of plants and seaweed, they are known to steal nesting materials from neighbours, you definitely wouldn't want to be their neighbours!
Photo by Yiannis Chatzitheodorou
Hourglass Dolphin
There is only one dolphin that inhabits Antarctica, it is the Hourglass Dolphin.The Hourglass Dolphin reaches lengths of 1.75 meters and weighs about 80 kg.This dolphin has 65 teeth in its jaw.They live in pods of about 7 dolphins and can be easily distinguished from other dolphins because of its black and white colour as well as irregular dorsal fin shape.
Photo by littlechay
Crocodile Fish
Crocodile Fish do surely look like crocodiles.They have 10 dorsal spines.They reach 50 centimeters in length and live in shallow depths ranging from 1-7 meters.
Photo by louisvolant
Icefish
There are 16 different species of Icefish.Icefish live in waters as cold as -2*C.The uniqueness about them is that their blood is transparent, this is due to the lack of haemoglobin and red blood cells that the Icefish has after adapting to its environment.Icefish reach lengths of 15 centimeters and have a lifespan range from 1 to 5 years.
Antarctic Cod
Antarctic Cod is a large fish that lives in deep sea water.They are found in depths such as 1 900 meters underwater and reach sizes of 1.7 meters and weigh up to 80kg.As Antarctic Cod inhabits cold deep waters, he possesses glycoprotein in his body to survive in his freezing environment.
More Fish inhabiting Antarctica
Rat-Tailed Fish
Hagfish
Robber Fish
Skates
Dragon Fish
Photo by DanCentury
CRUSTACEANS IN ANTARCTICA
Photo by Bidwell, Coby
Antarctic Krill
Antarctic Krill is a herbivore.They are really important towards the marine food chain.They grow to sizes up to 6cm and live up to 10 years despite their tiny size.These small but important creatures live 100 meters under the surface
Hoff Crab
Hoff Crabs are a species of deep-sea lobsters.They are unique because of their colour that unlike normal lobsters being orange, the Hoff Crab is white.
King Crab
King Crabs are large crabs that have recently started to migrate to Antarctica.They are recognized as large crabs that weigh about 8kg and prefer to live in fairly deep waters ranging from 50 meters to 200 meters under the surface.
More Crustaceans in Antarctica
Antarcturus
Serolid
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MORE OF ANTARCTICA
A View to Krill
Krill are the primary food source for marine life, they are the ones who keep marine life going.If they would disappear animals would start dying from the lack of food and prey.All animals would suffer from the disappearance of krill as it is the primary food source.To stop krill from going extinct we have to stop polluting as pollution makes a whole in the Ozone Layer letting UVA rays in that kill the krill.
Photo by The Sun and Doves
Climate Patterns
Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth with the lowest temperature being -89*C, and the highest being 15*C.As you might know Ice can be conserved at 0 degrees Celsius however the weather in Antarctica has increased dramatically increased and started melting ice.Antarctica has wind gusts that travel over 200km/h.
What would happen if Antarctica disappeared?
If Antarctica disappeared, water levels would rise by 65 meters worldwide, destroying cities and killing people and animal.Antarctica also stores 70% of the world's freshwater so humanity would also lose most of the water that we can drink.
Ice Cores In Antarctica
Using Ice Cores scientists can track how the ice is progressing or if it is getting worse.Scientists can also track how the Industrial Revolution impacted the Antarctic Ice and environment.
How is Global Warming affecting Antarctica?
Global Warming destroys Antarctica by melting ice, decreasing space for animals to live in such as seals, birds, penguins and etc.The UVA rays start to melt ice and kill creatures such as krill that are obligatory for the animal kingdom in Antarctica.Methane is also released and it damages the Ozone Layer making Antarctica even more vulnerable.
How can we save Antarctica?
We can save Antarctica by reducing greenhouse gasses and start using renewable energy such as solar and wind power as greenhouse gasses destroy the Ozone Layer and let in UVA rays.There are also organized associations to prevent Antarctica from melting like 2041 with their leader being Robert Swan.It is fortunate that Miss.Cowley has already embarked on a journey to save the one and only : Antarctica.
Photo by Isengardt
