Polar region animals

Adélie Penguin Adelie penguins in Antarctica. Adélie Penguins are part of the brush-tailed penguin family along with the Chinstrap Penguins, who also live in Antarctica. The cute birds are the continent's smallest penguin species, with distinctive tuxedo-like black and white feathering, sleek bodies, and a white ring around the eyes. Adélie Penguins live and breed solely in the polar region, just like their distant-family giants, the Emperor Penguins. They eat mostly krill, along with some fish and squid. The changes in the oceanic environment and the Antarctic Peninsula's warming have caused krill and, consequently, the Adélie Penguin populations to drop by 70 to 90% since 1982. They still thrive along the rocky outcrops across the Antarctic coastline, where one can spot an increasing number of them. The birds lay only two eggs a year that hatch in the early summer of December or January on the polar circle. They construct nests out of small stones to shelter and incubate the eggs and offspring. One-month-old chickadees get out from under the wing and gather in rowdy groups of friends called "crèches." In-between two and three months of age, they are ready for life at sea upon gaining adult feathers. The birds are known to engage in a loveable courting ritual of offering pebbles as a sign of affection to their counterparts, while the males also have a sneaky habit of stealing pebbles. Blue Whale A blue whale, the largest animal on the planet. Blue Whale is the largest spe...

Contents • Ecosystem Basics • Arctic Ocean • Southern Ocean • Polar Ice • • • • Creatures of the Poles • Arctic Ocean • • • • • Southern Ocean • • • • Pole to Pole: Shared Species? • • • • Threats to the Poles • Climate Change • Overfishing • • Human Connections • Arctic • • • Antarctic • • Polar Science at the Smithsonian • • Travel to the ends of the earth—literally—and discover the polar ocean basins. Both the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean are defined by ice and dramatic shifts between endless day and endless night. The environments at the poles are some of the harshest on Earth—yet animals have found ways to survive there against the odds. Although both are icy and frigid, the Meanwhile, the southern polar region has the opposite geography, with the huge landmass of Antarctica surrounded by the turbulent Southern Ocean. All but one or two percent of Antarctic land is covered by glaciers, some of which are more than 15,000 feet (4,700 meters) thick. In the Antarctic, the only human residents are Ecosystem Basics Arctic Ocean Polar bears are threatened by the loss of sea ice in the Arctic. (K. Elliott, NOAA, Hidden Ocean 2005) The symbol of the Arctic is often the polar bear, the pole's cute yet fearsome top predator. These What keeps this marine ecosystem going are organisms you can't see with the naked eye: microscopic phytoplankton and ice algae. Come March, the sun rises low in the Arctic horizon, and it won't set until six months later in September. During thi...

Earth’s brrr-illiant polar regions may be seriously cold, but they’re home to some seriously wonderful wildlife, like walruses, polar bears, penguins and even sea unicorns! Join us on a polar trek to discover more about these amazing habitats and how YOU can help save them! Virtual expeditions! – Explore the freezing polar regions with these webcams: – Visit the Arctic and Antarctic with – Check out Google’s amazing AR animals on your smartphone! Google one of the animals on the list below. If your phone is compatible, you should see a card that look like this: Simply tap ‘View in 3D’ and enjoy! Alligator Angler fish Bear Brown bear Cat Cheetah Deer Dog – French Bulldog – Golden / Labrador Retriever – Pomeranian – Pug – Rottweiler Duck Eagle Emperor penguin Goat Hedgehog Horse Leopard Lion Macaw Octopus Panda Penguin Raccoon Shark Shetland pony Snake Tiger Turtle Wolf Known as the North Pole and the South Pole, the Earth’s polar regions really are poles apart! The Arctic (found at the most northern part of planet) is an ocean covered by thick sea‐ice and surrounded by the northern continents, while Antarctica (found at the most southern part of the Earth) is an ice‐covered continent surrounded by ocean. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, the USA, Greenland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland. Super‐cold temperatures as low as –70°C have been recorded there (in Northern Greenland) and the Arctic ice contains around ten percent of the world...

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The Polar Regions Earth's polar regions are a captivating and mysterious part of our planet, shrouded in ice and darkness for much of the year. The standard titles for these antipodal regions are the North and South Poles because they are points where the planet's axis of rotation intersects its surface, which causes them to receive minimal sunlight and experience long periods of darkness. The first explorers to these regions were Roald Amundsen, who reached the South Pole in 1911, and Robert Peary, who claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1909. However, there is some controversy surrounding Peary's claim: the most accepted visit is that of Amundsen in 1926 via airship. Diagram representing the Earth and its major latitude lines and the two poles. The Polar Regions host frigid temperatures due to their location within the cryosphere. The cryosphere refers to areas of the Earth where water has frozen into solid ice or snow. Axial tilt is responsible for this effect, which results in a lack of direct sunlight at high latitudes. The North Pole centers on shifting sea ice in the Polar Climate North Polar Region Hamnøy during polar night in Norway. The Arctic climate has long, cold winters and short, cool summers. In winter, temperatures often drop below -30°F, while summer temperatures average around 50°F. The region experiences continuous daylight during the summer months and complete darkness in the winter. The Arctic climate works in tandem with the effects of sea ice ...

One important adaptation of polar bears to their unique climate is the transparency of their thick fur, which allows sunlight to pass through and reach their black skin, where heat from the sun is then absorbed. Another adaptation is polar bears’ use of only their front limbs when swimming, which is found in no other four-legged Polar bears are stocky, with a long neck, relatively small head, short, rounded ears, and a short tail. The male, which is much larger than the female, weighs 410 to 720 kg (900 to 1,600 pounds). It grows to about 1.6 metres (5.3 feet) tall at the shoulder and 2.2–2.5 metres in length. The tail is 7–12 cm (3–5 inches) long. Sunlight can pass through the thick fur, its heat being absorbed by the bear’s black skin. Under the skin is a layer of insulating fat. The broad feet have hairy soles to protect and insulate as well as to Mating occurs in spring, and implantation of the fertilized ovum is delayed. Including the delay, Humans probably cause most polar bear deaths, by hunting and by destroying problem animals near settlements. Polar bears have been known to kill people. The bears are hunted especially by Inuit people for their hides, tendons, fat, and flesh. Although polar bear