A Quick-Look at some animals that live in Antarctica - Including the charismatic megafauna of penguins, whales seals and albatrosses along with other seabirds and invertebrates such as krill which form the basis of many Antarctic food chains.
The majority of animals found in the south polar region are just there for the summer, leaving before the really hard winter weather starts.
Antarctic Animals - Quick-Look
An illustrated overview -
more quick looks
A brief introduction to a range of animals that live
in Antarctica. 14 images with simple captions and links
to the larger picture page as a slide-show.
Antarctic animals in more detail
Slide Pack -
Start slideshow here
1 - Emperor penguins are the largest of all penguins,
they live in the coldest places all winter, no other
animal on earth lives in such harsh cold conditions.
2 - King penguins are the second largest penguins,
they live on islands at the northern edge of Antarctica.
3
- Adelie penguins are small and tough, they can
walk 100km across sea-ice to reach their nesting areas.
4 - Orcas or killer whales are found in both the
Antarctic and Arctic, they are mammals and breathe air.
5
- Blue whales visit Antarctica in the summer, they
are the largest animals to have ever lived, bigger than
any dinosaur.
6 - Weddell seals live in the seas around Antarctica,
they have their pups on the sea-ice in late winter.
7 - Southern fur seals were almost all killed off
in the 1700 and 1800's for their fur, they have recovered
in the last 100 years and there are now several million
of these animals in Antarctica.
8 - Leopard seals are a major predator in Antarctica,
they are bigger than most seals and solitary.
9
- Krill are small shrimp-like animals that live
in giant swarms in the sea where they feed on tiny plants,
krill are the food for a great many other Antarctic
animals.
10
- Wandering albatrosses have the largest wingspan
of any bird at up to 3.5m (over 11 feet), they rarely
flap their wings but can cover 950 km per day at an
average speed of 40 kmh for days or weeks on end.
11 - Snow petrels are pure white birds the size
of a small dove, they sit out the coldest weather with
just their own feathers for warmth.
12
- Antarctic skuas are large birds with a lot of
personality. They are thieves, scavengers or predators
according to opportunity.
13
- Arctic terns fly from one pole to the other and
back again every year spending the summer in each, they
see more daylight than any other animal on earth.
14
- Antarctic land animals, the harsh conditions mean
that the largest purely land animal is just 13mm long.
Picture credits: 2 - Mike Usher / 5 - NOAA
/ 6 - Liam Quinn from Canada, under creative commons, attribution
2.0 share-alike licence. / 8 - Gilad from from Israel, used
under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 generic license.
1 - Emperor penguins are the largest of all penguins,
they live in the coldest places all winter, no other
animal on earth lives in such harsh cold conditions.
2 - King penguins are the second largest penguins,
they live on islands at the northern edge of Antarctica.
3
- Adelie penguins are small and tough, they can
walk 100km across sea-ice to reach their nesting areas.
4 - Orcas or killer whales are found in both the
Antarctic and Arctic, they are mammals and breathe air.
5
- Blue whales visit Antarctica in the summer, they
are the largest animals to have ever lived, bigger than
any dinosaur.
6 - Weddell seals live in the seas around Antarctica,
they have their pups on the sea-ice in late winter.
7 - Southern fur seals were almost all killed off
in the 1700 and 1800's for their fur, they have recovered
in the last 100 years and there are now several million
of these animals in Antarctica.
8 - Leopard seals are a major predator in Antarctica,
they are bigger than most seals and solitary.
9
- Krill are small shrimp-like animals that live
in giant swarms in the sea where they feed on tiny plants,
krill are the food for a great many other Antarctic
animals.
10
- Wandering albatrosses have the largest wingspan
of any bird at up to 3.5m (over 11 feet), they rarely
flap their wings but can cover 950 km per day at an
average speed of 40 kmh for days or weeks on end.
11 - Snow petrels are pure white birds the size
of a small dove, they sit out the coldest weather with
just their own feathers for warmth.
12
- Antarctic skuas are large birds with a lot of
personality. They are thieves, scavengers or predators
according to opportunity.
13
- Arctic terns fly from one pole to the other and
back again every year spending the summer in each, they
see more daylight than any other animal on earth.
14
- Antarctic land animals, the harsh conditions mean
that the largest purely land animal is just 13mm long.