Animals Antarctica for Android

11 things about Animals Antarctica

1. Antarctic krill, which congregate in large schools, is the keystone species of the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, and is an important food organism for whales, seals, leopard seals, fur seals, squid, icefish, penguins, albatrosses and many other birds.

2. Antarctic sea life includes penguins, blue whales, orcas, colossal squids and fur seals.

3. Various factors may aid in their distribution – fairly uniform temperatures of the deep ocean at the poles and the equator which differ by no more than 5 °C, and the major current systems or marine conveyor belt which transport eggs and larval stages.

4. The emperor penguin is the only penguin that breeds during the winter in Antarctica, while the Adélie penguin breeds farther south than any other penguin.

5. Invertebrate life includes microscopic mites like the Alaskozetes antarcticus, lice, nematodes, tardigrades, rotifers, krill and springtails.

6. The research is part of the global Census of Marine Life (CoML) and has disclosed some remarkable findings.

7. The Antarctic fur seal was very heavily hunted in the 18th and 19th centuries for its pelt by sealers from the United States and the United Kingdom.

8. More surprising are small forms of life such as mudworms, sea cucumbers and free-swimming snails found in both polar oceans.

9. A census of sea life carried out during the International Polar Year and which involved some 500 researchers was released in 2010.

10. The flightless midge Belgica antarctica, up to 6 millimetres (0.2 in) in size, is the largest purely terrestrial animal in Antarctica.

11. The snow petrel is one of only three birds that breed exclusively in Antarctica.