Animals of Antarctica and Antarctica. Fauna of Antarctica: fauna of the icy continent. southern minke whale

The White Ice Desert is one of the last untouched natural spaces on earth. The Antarctic continent is located at the South Pole, covered in gigantic ice mountains surrounded by a dense white belt. The landscape seems sterile, completely bleak - and all the animals of Antarctica live, hunt, give birth to offspring - life flourishes.

Antarctica, a continent of extremes

Every day in Antarctica is unforgettable. The sixth continent is the coldest, driest and windiest corner of the world. Temperatures up to minus 55 degrees Celsius, heavy snowstorms, low rainfall, even less than in the Sahara, make the sixth continent an uncomfortable living area for people - and yet it can be beautiful, unusually comfortable here in summer.

During the short, bright season, Antarctica often presents itself at its most beautiful, with slight cons, light winds, and a play of colors of golden sun, blue sky, and white snow. While traveling through the interior of the icebergs, reminiscent of sculptures, they instantly change their color. Just a few dazzling rays of the sun are enough to visually change the vast landscape.

Water

Country/territory larger than Europe, 98 percent covered with snow. This place holds the world's largest reservoir of drinking water - deep frozen - so to speak. Frozen fresh water is stored in a huge ice sheet. Antarctica, however, is not a monumental ice floe. Although you know from the ice, under your feet the ice has solid ground in places. Since the mainland is located at a depth of 2200 meters of the ice shell.

Winter summer

In winter, impenetrable sea ice accumulates on the coast. In summer it will melt to one-sixth. The strength of the sun also affects the interior ice. In summer, many large sections of the coast come off, huge icebergs appear. They move by wind, current and can drift up to twelve kilometers a day in the direction of the flood. Some travel long distances: in 1894, an iceberg was seen even at the height of Rio de Janeiro.

Animal Kingdom: penguins, seals and migratory birds

Despite the seasonally warm, sunny days, this region can hardly be sustained in the interior in the long term. Not a single mammal, bird lives in the icy desert for a long time and constantly. Emperor penguins are the only animals in Antarctica that leave the shores of the icy desert and venture to breed in these places. This place of the globe is inhabited by some invertebrates, such as the mosquito Belgica antarctica - a rare species with a size of twelve millimeters.

The sea, the coast, rich in a peculiar life. Four types of penguins feel at home here:

List of animals of Antarctica

• emperor penguin;
• Adélie penguins;
• Subantarctic penguin.

Thanks to a thick layer of fat, dense plumage that conducts heat poorly, and poorly perfused soles, animals can withstand low air temperatures.

Ocean and animals

The oceans are full of small fish, squid, crabs and krill, which provide a variety of food for many aquatic mammals. Several species of seals such as the Weddell seal, sea lion or leopard seal prey on fish and penguins.

Numerous species of whales thrive in their migrations to Antarctic waters and replenish their fat reserves with an abundance of fish, krill, and squid, which are found in abundance here.

Birds

In addition to countless colonies of migratory birds that travel on the pack ice in summer, offshore islands are their breeding grounds. These include the giant king albatross, some petrel species, and skuas, large skuas that feed on young penguins and their eggs. However, in winter, most species of animals in Antarctica, birds migrate to warmer climes to the north.

Plants

The flora of Antarctica is quite scarce, unremarkable. In fact, the sixth continent is home to the world's poorest flora. It covers not only this edge of the land of the icy desert, but also extends over the southwest of Patagonia, the Kerguelen Islands and the South Island of New Zealand, many different types of plants grow in these open areas.

There are only two native flowering plants on the continent: the 'Antarctic Shmiele' and the 'Antarctic Pearl Oyster'. In addition to this, there are about 200 species of lichens and 100 species of mosses that make up the majority of the barren Antarctic vegetation. They grow in dense cushions to protect themselves from wind and icy weather.

Scientists

Inhospitable nature challenges another, special kind of humanity - these are polar explorers. In summer, huge expeditions accumulate in these places. Approximately 4,000 scientists, researchers, travelers live for several weeks at 80 research stations located on the ice.

Scientists travel by ships, planes, because the icy desert does not make it possible to study, follow oneself on a bicycle. What scientists are researching in Antarctica: fauna, flora, ice depths, climate, geomagnetic field, sea sounds - and much more.

Most travelers, scientists, and just single tourists want to return to these places, because they attract with their quiet, cozy coolness!

What animals live in Antarctica, if you are interested in this question, then in the next article, you will certainly find all the necessary and useful information.

What is Antarctica? Where is Antarctica located?

Antarctica - the continent, which is located in the southern hemisphere around the geographic south pole, is washed by the Southern Ocean, covers approximately 12% of the Earth's land mass. The continent contains 90% of the world's ice reserves, which contain 70% of the fresh water on Earth.

What animals live in Antarctica?

Animals that live in Antarctica are migratory because the climate of the continent is too difficult.

Mammals of Antarctica

• Kerguelen fur seal
• sea ​​leopard
• crabeater seal
• Weddell seal
• southern elephant seal

Flying birds of Antarctica

• Antarctic tern
• Antarctic blue-eyed cormorant
• white plover
• Pintado
• snow petrel
• wandering albatross
• south polar skua
• giant petrel

Penguins of Antarctica

• emperor penguin
• king penguin
• subantarctic penguin

Other animals

• Antarctic krill
• Belgica antarctica

Blue whales. They are one of the most mysterious and strange creatures on Earth. The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet, weighing over 100 tons, they easily outweigh the heavy dinosaurs. Even the "ordinary" whale is huge and is considered truly impressive creations of nature. Whales are huge but elusive mammals and difficult to study. They are highly intelligent, with complex social lives and complete freedom of movement.

Fur seal. In appearance and manner, these mammals resemble a large dog. They are able to pull their rear flippers under their body and lift their weight with their front flippers, so they are much more flexible on land than other pinnipeds. Males reach a mass of 200 kg and 4 times more than females. They are limited mainly to the subantarctic islands, with 95% of the population on South Georgia Island.

Sea leopard. Called the "leopard seal" due to the spots on its body, it is one of the largest predators in Antarctica. The weight of males is up to 300 kg, and females - 260-500 kg. The body length of males varies between 2.8-3.3 m, and females 2.9-3.8 m.

The diet of sea leopards is very diverse. They can eat any animal they can kill. The diet consists of fish, squid, penguins, birds and seal pups.

Antarctic tern. A typical representative of the tern family. It is a small bird 31-38 cm long, weighing 95-120 g, and with a wingspan of 66-77 cm. Its beak is usually dark red or blackish. The plumage is mostly light gray or white, there is a black “cap” on the head. The wingtips of this tern are greyish-black.

They feed on fish and krill, especially when they are in Antarctica. Terns notice their prey from the air, and then dive into the water after it.

We hope the information in this article was useful to you and now you know the answer to the question "What animals live in Antarctica?".

Severe and regal, mysterious and alluring, Antarctica has a very limited species diversity of the animal world. However, even in the extreme climatic conditions of Antarctica, some animals feel great.

Representatives of the local fauna inhabit the coastal strip of the mainland and live in coastal waters.

The land animals of Antarctica are leopard seals, crabeater seals, elephant seals, 17 species of penguins (Adélie penguins, emperor penguins and others), two species of skuas and several species of petrels. Nematodes live in soils, and up to 70 species of arthropods, represented by arachnids and insects, can be found on the surface.

Sea leopards (Eng. Leopard seal)- a species of seals, whose habitat is the subantarctic regions of the Southern Ocean. Male sea leopards reach a length of 3 meters and weigh approximately 270 kg, while females grow up to 4 meters and have a body weight of up to 0.4 tons. The body of animals has a smooth, streamlined shape, which makes it possible to slide freely in the thickness of oceanic waters at speeds up to 40 km / h. The diet of these animals includes warm-blooded vertebrates, including young seals and penguins.

Crabeater seal- a species characteristic of Antarctica, characterized by large numbers. The body length of an adult seal averages 2-2.5 m, females and males are almost identical in appearance to each other, and both of them go through a process of molting every year at the beginning of spring, changing the color of the fur from silver gray to grayish brown with a few light spots. The food for these seals are small crustaceans.

Adélie penguins- typically Antarctic birds, in the nests of which there are up to 700 thousand individuals. These penguins make up 2/3 of all birds in Antarctica. They spend most of their lives in the ocean, and come ashore only during the nesting season. Penguins are called birds only conditionally - they do not know how to fly, but they can swim very well at speeds up to 20 km / h. Almost the entire body of Adele is covered with waterproof feathers, and under the skin there is a thick fatty layer that protects from severe frosts. Adélie penguins feed exclusively on krill, cephalopods, mollusks and small fish. The daily amount of food eaten for an adult reaches 2 kg.

Emperor Penguins- the largest penguins living on Earth, reaching 1.3 m in length and weighing up to 45 kg. These birds have rounded shapes, disproportionately small head and legs. The body color is black and white: black plumage on the back and white on the chest is a natural protection of birds from enemies. On the cheeks and below the neck, emperor penguins have yellow-orange patches of plumage. Penguins spend most of the year on drifting ice floes and at sea, but during mating they return to the mainland. The main food of emperor penguins is krill, shellfish and fish, which they hunt in groups.

King penguin (Aptenodytes patagonica)

Lives to the north, in warmer places. Breeding colonies are located on the islands of South Georgia, Kerguelen, Marion, Crozet and Macquarie.
The length of the body is 91-96 cm. The colonies are located on solid rocky ground. Reproduction occurs in summer: eggs are laid mainly in December - January. Each female lays only 1 large egg. Both parents incubate alternately. Incubation duration 54 days

Rockhopper Penguin or Rock Climbing Penguin, Rock Penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome)

It lives on the rocky islands of the subantarctic region, but is sometimes found further north, on the southern tip of Africa and South America, as well as on the southern coast of New Zealand.
Reaches 45-58 cm in height, weight 2-3 kg.

Breeds in large colonies on the barren and very harsh islands of Tristanda Cunha and Heard Island. In a noisy and crowded colony, the small first egg is usually lost in quarrels with neighbors. The chicks gather in the nursery, but return to the nest when the parents call them to feed them. Chicks grow up quickly and at the age of 10 weeks are ready to go to sea.

Victoria Penguin or Crested Thick-billed Penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)

It breeds only on the rocky, creviced coast of New Zealand's South Island, as well as on two small offshore islands, Stewart and Solander.
Reaches 60 cm in length, with a weight of about 3 kg.

Golden-haired penguins (Eng. Macaroni Penguin) - low (up to 76 cm) penguins colonially nesting near Antarctica, having a bunch of golden yellow feathers above their eyes.

Little penguin, elf penguin, little blue penguin, little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor)

It lives off the southern coast of Australia, along the coasts of Tasmania, New Zealand and Chatham Island.
It has a body length of only 40 cm. Usually lays 1-2, sometimes 3 eggs.

Antarctic penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica)

It lives mainly on the barren islands of the subantarctic region.
It reaches a height of 71-76 cm with a weight of 4 kg.
These penguins are quite aggressive. There are known cases of these birds attacking people approaching the colony. Unlike other species, they feed their both chicks.

giant petrels

nesting birds on the Antarctic islands, feeding on marine animals, and sometimes young penguins. The size of the wings of these birds reaches half a meter. Scientists find out that petrels, using the power of a tailwind, are able to fly around the entire planet and return to their nesting place.

great skuas

The closest relatives of seagulls. Their wings length reaches 40 cm, but they walk on the ground as well as they fly. Skuas feed on fish, small animals and birds, and can be content with carrion.

Skuas are bandits, and nothing more. There are four types of them, and all - some more, some less - rob. Eggs and chicks are stolen from neighbors. Penguins are especially affected by great skuas. Large skuas, they are as tall as a large herring gull, kill with strong beaks even adult birds that they can overcome

New Year's greetings from penguins

Antarctica is not like other continents. This is one of the coldest parts of the world where the temperature is extremely low. Is the air here very dry, cold? and, except for penguins and seals, other land animals in this area are almost impossible to see. On the islands you can find several varieties of worms, butterflies without wings (flightless) and crayfish. Of the birds, the plover and the plover are considered the most famous.

In summer, the following birds fly here:

• albatrosses;
• seagulls;
• petrels and others.

All other inhabitants of Antarctica live in the ocean. This area is distinguished by a huge number of predators, which, despite the snow cover, survive perfectly, hunt and get their own food. Various mammals live here, there are practically no poachers on the territory, and those who live here are old, not new residents. Seals are predatory animals from the pinniped family. A thick layer of fat helps them withstand the severe frosts of this region. Many species of seals live in the waters of Antarctica:

1. wedella;
2. rossa;
3. crabeater;
4. southern elephant seal.

Weddell seal

One of the residents of this glacial continent is the Weddell seal. James Wedella is the commander of an industrial expedition, as well as a resident of this continent, after whom this animal was named. This beast has a very pleasant smiling face, but it is not so attractive with its slanting cat eyes and smile, but with the strong cries that it emits from the bottom of the sea during the mating season.

Females and males are the same size and, of course, they are the kind of seals that can give birth to two at once. Their embryos are born in three weeks and after a month and a half they weigh one hundred kilograms. Puppies are born on the coast, the mother comes ashore shortly before giving birth and after birth until the end of the lactation period remains with the newly appeared puppy on the coast, but after the completion of feeding with milk, the female releases her embryo for an independent life.

This type of mammal due to lack of air, it gnaws through glaciers, their teeth lose their sharpness and break. Thus, animals lose the ability to eat normally and have a life expectancy of no more than twenty years. The sea becomes their most secure place of permanent residence, seals expose only their nostrils from the water. I would like to note that, despite this fact, Wedell seals do not like land, their enemies are sea leopards, which catch them and kill them at the very bottom.

It seems that seals on the shore see much worse than under water, are very friendly with the people they meet, as well as with the animals living with them in the neighborhood. People are noticed in the case of very close communication, lie down on the ground and greet people, as if saying "salute". In winter, they do not come to the surface of the ice, which is associated with severe frosts that prevail in this area. Seals talk to each other, grunting and yelping.

Ross seal

Ross is from the family of mammals and is one of the true seals. It is named after the American explorer Ross. In size, it is from the family of the smallest Antarctic seals. Their body length reaches two meters in size. These animals have a large amount of fat and hide their heads in this thick layer of fat in order to be able to protect themselves from severe frosts. The seals are very good divers and swim at high speeds and hunt for small fish. This type of seal lives, like the previous one, for about twenty years.

They do not live in groups, but, on the contrary, prefer to live alone. He is fat and barrel-shaped, and lives in places that are inaccessible to humans. This predator sings melodicly. His language is incomprehensible to many, but well known to his kindred. Likes to eat octopuses and other mammals.

crabeater seal

crabeater - one of the most common types in the world and belongs to the family of true seals. They are slender, their muzzles are slightly elongated and thin. They are brown in color, but after molting they become creamy white. Crab-eaters are four times the weight of all other seals. Although the name contains the word crab, they do not use them at all in their food, these animals of Antarctica tend to eat fish.

Their cubs are born in autumn and by the end of feeding with milk, their weight reaches up to 110 kilograms. While feeding the puppy, the male sits on the surface of the ice and does not allow him to approach the female until the end of feeding. They are fed for two or three weeks, in weight they add four kilos a day. Seals jump from ice floes very dexterously and dive well into the water. Scientists suggest that this dexterity is due to the fact that crabeaters protect themselves from predators attacking them. Carry their children for about nine months.

They die and live on the bottom of the ocean, like previous predators, for about twenty years.

Sea Elephant

There are two types of elephant seals: northern and southern. The northern one differs from the southern one in a narrower and southern trunk. Due to the large number hunters at one time, the northern type almost disappeared from the face of the earth. The ban on fishing in this area helped restore the number of these elephants. The southern variety was also heavily hunted: they were mercilessly killed. But now they are protected.

Sea elephants, due to the presence of a process similar to the trunk of an elephant, which begins to grow in them by the age of eight, got their name. Their body is thick, the head is small compared to the body, they have flippers instead of limbs. They live on land, but because of the obesity of their body, it is very difficult to move around and prefer to sleep more. They sleep very soundly and during sleep they emit strong snores. They sleep under the sun and do not like to be awakened. In the event of an attempt to wake them from sleep, they can kick hard or hit with a stone.

This kind of predator It spends most of its life in the water and only comes to land to mate. At this time, they gather in groups, and the rest of the time they prefer to live alone. Elephant seals, due to the gravity of their weight for food, can dive to a depth of 1400 meters and remain under water for a long time. They eat fish, they have nuts in the stomach for digestion. They have thick skin and short hair. Females and males of this species differ greatly in size and are the largest among pinnipeds and among seals. This type of animal gives birth to one cub.

Describing some facts from the life of pinnipeds, we can draw the following conclusions: despite tangible differences in size, everyone lives by the same rules for life. They are all stacked the same, with the exception of the elephant seal, whose head is smaller than the body.

Pinnipeds spend some of their time on land, but they are essentially marine because they feed in the water. This is where elephants find food:

• shellfish;
• crustaceans.

All elephant seals are more adapted to life in water than on land, they are excellent swimmers, as a rule, they swim with their front limbs. The most terrestrial among all is the crabeater seal, which goes out onto the ice floe and loves to sit on it. He moves so deftly on the ice that not everyone could catch him. This species feels confident on land, because killer whales often come here.

Animals of this series have poor eyesight because they spend most of their lives at sea, they have a good sense of smell due to vibrissae, which all pinnipeds possess.

Penguins

Penguins are a breed of bird living in Antarctica. These are the most common and popular of all flying people living in Antarctica. Penguins, like other terrestrial ones that live on glaciers, get their food in the water, dive perfectly to the very depths and eat small fish and krill.

Consider and compare emperor penguins and adele.

Adélie is a variety that has both the back and the head and neck in black. They breed on land and spend the rest of their time in the water. The males prepare the mating grounds, after which the females incubate their eggs. During the incubation period of the female do not eat and lose half the weight.

The largest in size are the imperial ones. This type of penguin is very clumsy in movement and maintains balance with the help of their flippers - wings. Their paws help them move on land.

But in the water they are excellent divers and find their food very cleverly. On land, you can meet them on a walk alone, but most often in pairs. When you see them on the shore, you can compare them to people walking and discussing very important issues. Summer is spent at sea, and in winter acquire offspring.

When choosing a pair, emperor penguins are monogamous and among a large number of females, males come up with cries and choose a mate for themselves, but after choosing they never change them. The eggs are first incubated by the males, and then by the females. Imperial females, like Adele, do not eat themselves during feeding and also lose a lot of weight.

From the vast majority of birds they are distinguished by the fact that when walking they keep their posture very even and seem important and well-dressed people. They walk slowly, clumsily and, surprisingly, fly very smoothly over water.

Penguins belong to the group of those animals whose lives are constantly threatened due to the abundance of enemies. They are primarily people who often destroy them, and some predators like petrels. Embryos often die due to insufficient food.

Penguins are intelligent animals with short legs, very long necks, and feathers with scales. They have a large beak and a rather small head.

Penguins are at the stage of extinction, their population has declined sharply due to the melting of the ice, because their habitats are being destroyed, and food resources are becoming less and less.

Antarctica is the land of eternal cold, frost, strong wind, ice and snow. And the creatures living on its territory are very unusual due to the harsh climatic conditions.

People do not live permanently in Antarctica; by status, it does not belong to any state. Scientists from all over the world come here for research, and only in this case the silence of the mainland is broken. It is the coldest corner of the world and the continent of the Earth, the lowest temperature is recorded on it.

This part of the world is a place of survival. The animals of Antarctica are very strong and formidable, but despite this, living here means fighting and surviving. The predators who live here fight fierce battles with their enemies, but in their places of residence they are friendly and very caring. This area serves as a habitat for many animals. It is magnificent and beautiful, despite all the difficulties of living conditions.