LIFE IN THE FREEZER The Bountiful Sea

2013

THE GREAT WHITE NORTH

The great white continent is also known as Antarctica, consists of 98% percent ice and 75% percent fresh water, it is -70° C there and the wind can reach up to 120 miles per hour. In winter Antarctica doubles in its size. The ocean that surrounds Antarctica is called the Southern Ocean. The ice cap on Antarctica is 3 miles deep, and is as high as the ALPs, below the icecaps are mountain rangers.

GLACIER/ ICEBERGSThe biggest glacier in Antarctica is called Lambert. Glaciers move 2/3 miles a year.

When a bit breaks off a glacier, it is called an iceberg. Icebergs get carving in them when winds, waves and currents hit them. An iceberg can last up to 10 years, before breaking up into bits of ice. A fifth of an iceberg is visible above water.

BIRDS & SEALS The vultures of the Antarctic are the Giant Petrels, over 360 million birds come to the Southern Ocean for food. The main food the birds come for are krill. The only time the birds will come onto land is to breed.

The other animal that comes to the Southern Ocean for food and krill are the fur seals. They have an easier time grabbing and eating krill/fish, because they can dive deeper than the birds. The fur seal can dive up to 100 meters or more.

WANDERING ALBATROSS The biggest bird in Antarctica is the Wandering Albatross. The Wandering Albatross has the wingspan of 3 meters. 3,000 pairs of the Wandering Albatross nest together on South Georgia. A Wandering Albatross chick weighs 10 kilos, it gets fed every 3 or 4 days for 10 months. The Wandering Albatross parents travel 5,000 miles to get food for their young.

KING PENGUINS There are 2 million King Penguins found in Antarctica. King Penguins breed every 3 years. In those 3 years the King Penguins have two chicks, it takes more then 12 months for it to hatch.

THE ICE RETREATS

ELEPHANT SEALS The first animal to return to South Georgia is the Bold Elephant Seals. Half the worlds elephant seals come to South Georgia.

A full grown male elephant seal can weighs over 3 tones. A male elephant seal can rear up to 8 feet and higher. The male elephant seals only weapon is their teeth. They fight other males, to protect their land and females.

Female elephant seals can feed their young for 3 weeks before they have to go back out to sea to look for food.

ELEPHANT SEALS

BLACK BROWED ALBATROSS&

GREY HEADED ALBATROSS

When the Black Browed Albatross and the Grey Headed Albatross are very faithful the male and female stick together even when apart, they stay together for 20 years and until they die. When reunite, they groom each other as their sign of reuniting. After the Black Browed Albatross and Grey Headed Albatross reunite they wait 2 weeks before mating, it takes 70 days for the egg to hatch, when the chick is born, both partners take turns looking after their chick.

PETRELS PRIONSThe birds that come to south Georgia at night are the Petrels Prions, there are 2 million Petrels Prions nesting on South Georgia.

Petrels keep their young in borrows, to keep them protected from scewers. Their borrows can be up to 2 metres deep. A petrels chick stays in the borrows for 2 months before leaving.

MACARONI PENGUINS Macaroni penguins make up 50% of birds who visit South Georgia, there are 80 thousand Macaroni penguins on South Georgia.

Male and female Macaroni penguins mate the female lays two eggs, she lays two so if the first gets ruined she ill have the other egg to look after instead.

GENTU PENGUINS The animal that needs to reach the rocks first is the Gentu penguins. They have to be the first ones to reach the rocks for their nest, they have to grab and collect as many small stones as possible to build their nest and because there is only a short supply of stones it can be tricky. It takes 5 weeks for a Gentu penguin chick to hatch, both the male and females take turns looking after the chick.