ANTARCTICA

The Antarctic Continent is around the South Pole, and it is limited by the Antarctic Polar Circle at  66º33´S, except for the Antarctic Peninsula which, pointing to the North, faces South America.

The Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans bathe the continent, being thus surrounded by the sea.  It is 1,100 km. away from South America, 3,600 km away from Africa, 2,250 Km. away from Tasmania; 2,200 km. away from New Zealand.  Antarctica covers an area of 14 million square kilometers that, together with the nearby sea, are covered by ice all throughout the year.  Some areas of the shore, only 2% of the total surface, remain uncovered, thus interrupting the monotony of the landscape.  This polar casket is two thousand meters thick, and it has a volume of thirty million cubic meters, that is ninety per cent of the ice on Earth.

Antarctica is the highest of all continents, with an approximated medium altitude of
2,050 meters over the level of the sea, against a world average of 600 meters.  This is due to the polar casket and its high and long mountain chains that cross the continent, with peaks that frequently go from 4,000 to 4,500 meters over the level of the sea.

Antarctica has the special characteristic of not have been inhabited by native populations, so no country can claim a cultural, political, or economic preeminence over this territory, and thus it enables a joint administration by several nations.

In 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was signed.  It was the first signed document for the protection and administration of the Antarctic Continent, where the consulting members (originally signing countries) and the supporting members (countries that have joined after it started to be effective in 1961) covenant to comply with the terms of the Treaty, thus ensuring the pacific use of the Continent.  Since then, many international agreements have been signed regarding the conservation of  its resources.  In 1991, the Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty about Protection of the Environment was signed.  It includes a definition of the environmental principles, and planning of the activities that are to be developed in Antarctica.

FLORA AND FAUNA

The Antarctic ecosystem consists of a limited number of species, which are highly dependent on one another.  This fact makes the ecosystem particularly sensitive to any external influence that may interfere with its own parameters.  The extreme weather conditions, the low temperatures, the strong winds, and the uneven distribution of the light throughout the year, limit any form of life development.  The Antarctic ecosystem has three different environments: the atmosphere, the ice-covered continent, and the sea.

There are no pathogen germs in the atmosphere, there are bateriae, yeast, and micro fungus, though, as it is evidenced by means of special cultivation

The flora is very poor on the continent, and it is represented by lichen, moss, and as an exception some other plant.  

The fauna of the continent is reduced to some invertebrata: arthropods and insects.  Thus, it is considered the biggest dessert in the world.

In the marine environment, life is resplendent.  The long period of light, oxygenation, and the waters rich in salt, contribute to this.  It starts with plankton, from which, either directly or indirectly, all the Antarctic fauna feeds.

A characteristic of the Antarctic fauna is the relative poverty of species, but a great richness in individuals, at least, until man acts.

The submarine fauna is rich and varied, but from the point of view of eye watching, the birds and mammals are more interesting.

MAMMALS

The mammals that visit Antarctica are represented by the seals, and the cetacean.

The real seals are of a regular size, and have the back legs within the body, save for the tarsus.  They lack ears, and they move in the water, they only get out to take naps or to have their young. .

To this group, we can add the so called fur seal, or hairy sea lion, which is not a real seal, and has ears. .

Among the real seals we can distinguish: the Weddell seal: of  dark gray hair, with yellowish spots, it is about 3 meters long, and weighs between 300 and 400 kilograms; the Cangrejera (Crab Seal): of white-yellowish hair, it is about 3 meters long, and weighs between 200 and 250 kilograms; the Ross seal: of dark gray hair with clear spots in the chest and neck.  It is no more than 2 meters long, and it is very odd.  The sea leopard: of dark gray hair with silver and yellowish spots, it is over 4 meters long, the female being a bit smaller.  The sea lion: it suffers from sexual dismorphosis, the male being up to 7 meters long, while the female is no more than 3.  It has a thick skin.  The male can blow the nose at will, resembling a little trump.  It has poligamic habits.
The cetacean are mammals of lung breathing, completely adapted to the water environment, out of which they can not live because their weigh comprises their chest preventing them from breathing.

In so adapting to the water environment, they have lost their back legs, keeping their arms, which they use as flippers.  They have also lost their hair, which has been reduced to a few bristles in the face.  Below the skin they have a thick fat layer of 15 cm. or more, that they use as insulation, and as nutritious and energetic reserve to be used during the mating stage and while taking care of their young, which is done in warmer waters where there is less food.  They can be 30 minutes or more without breathing.

When its huge head, exhales hot air through the nose, which is in the back part of the head; this hot air, filled with steam can be seen from far away and forms the column, which is usually called the water spout.  Gestation can last up to 16 months in some species and, at birth, the young can be up to a third of the size of its parents.  They can be divided into toothless whales, or bearded whales,  and whales with teeth.

Among the bearded species, the most common are the blue whale, the flipped whale, the hunchbacked whale, and the midget.  Out of those, the blue whale is the biggest animal ever to have existed on earth.  Among the whales with teeth, you can find the cachalote and the killer whale, predators that attack the other whales.

BIRDS

All the Antarctic birds have palmate legs, save for the Antarctic pigeon, and the migrate North at the beginning of the Fall.
Several species of albatros visit Antarctica, and they stand out for their size (up to 3.40 meters) and their majestic flight.
The petrel is characteristic for having one or two nasal tubes on the beak.  Among them, we can find the giant petrel, the damero del cabo petrel, the gray petrel, the Antarctic petrel, the Wilson petrel, and the petrel of the snow, completely white.
Other members of the fauna are, the blue-eyed cormorant, the seagull, the skua or gray seagull, and the gaviotin, which migrate from pole to pole, and the Antarctic pigeon.
But, among the Antarctic birds, the penguin is the group that calls your attention for its total adaptation to the water environment, and its straight walk.  You can find them fossilized, with giant sizes that reach the 1.70 meters.  They are essentially social birds, and they live in communities that can host over 150,000 individuals.
Out of the seventeen species that live in the hemisphere, only four build their nests in Antarctica, and, out of these four, only two are of a panantarctic distribution.  The most common in our sector are the medium sized, and they migrate at the end of the summer.
The group of penguins is formed as follows: the Adelia penguin: black head and beak, with a white strip around the eye; the Antarctic penguin or chin strapped-penguin: so called for the line of black feathers that joins both sides of the head, passing through the throat;  the Papua penguin: with red-orange beak and legs, and two white spots over the head that look like a hood; and the Emperor penguin: which can be 1 - 1.10 meters. With a long bending beak, in both sides of the neck they have a golden orange spot that fades downwards.  It can weigh 25 to 30 kilograms.  Its colonies are usually within the Antarctic Polar Circle, and they are generally located on the firm marine ice.  They do not build nests during the polar night.