Antarctica is a continent that is covered with ice. On Earth you find this continent where the South Pole is located.
There are a lot of animals living in the seas around Antarctica an can be from small plankton to the largest sea animal, namely the Blue Whale.
Activity: Find pictures of different animals that you will find here on land and in the sea.
The extremely cold water is full of animals such as Antarctic krill, a tiny shrimp-like creature. Antarctic krill live in large groups, called swarms, that can contain 10 000 - 30 000 of these finger length animals. Swarms can spread for kilometres in all directions. Krill is the main food for penguins, whales and seals.
The animals that live here has adapted to be able to live in the very cold conditions
• The whales, seals and some birds have a layer of fat that protects them against the cols
• Penguins and seals have a thick skin and their bodies are compact and this helps to keep the body heat.
• Birds have two types of feathers - waterproof feathers and downy feathers to keep them warm.
• Many of the fish and insects have a special chemical in their blood which will keep the blood from freezing
• Some animals leave Antarctica between June and August, its coldest months. For example, Humpback whales eat huge amounts of krill before migrating to warmer waters, where there is little krill, to give birth to their calves.
Some animals remain in Antarctica all the time, for example, the Emperor penguins.
There is a wide variety of animals in Antarctica
Crustaceans - The bodies are covered with a hard shell and examples are crab, shrimp and sea spiders.
Invertebrates are creatures that do not have a backbone. We find a lot of them here like squid, cuttlefish, octopus, marine snails, limpets, sponges, sea stars, sea squirts, sea anemones, sea urchins, jellyfish and many others.
Activity - Choose any one of these invertebrates and find extra information on it.
The only winged insect native to Antarctica, a midge called Parochlus steineni is found here. Also other types of insects and spiders.
Many kinds of fish are found in Antarctic waters, such as Antarctic cod, ice fish, crocodile fish, dragon fish, robber fish, rat-tailed fish, hagfish, and skates and they serve as food to other fish and also the mammals living here.
A huge variety of mammals are found here. Can you remember what is a mammal?
There are seals, including the Elephant seal, Leopard seal, Weddell seal, Crabeater seal, Ross seal, and Fur seal. Whales include the blue whale, fin whale, sei whale, southern right whale, humpback whale, minke whale, sperm whale, killer whale or orca, southern bottlenose whale, blackfish, dusky dolphin, cruciger dolphin and spectacled porpoise.
Activity - Choose one animal and study their life
There are a variety of birds found here of which the penguin is one. How does a penguin differ from other birds?
Watch the video on the penguins found in Antarctica.