Antarctica is otherworldly – breathtakingly beautiful, and yet so alien, frozen, and unforgiving that it is hard to imagine surviving there. Author and explorer Jon Krakauer has said of it, “Antarctica has this mythic weight. It resides in the collective unconscious of so many people, and it makes this huge impact, just like outer space.”
It is wondrous, teeming with exotic wildlife – giant and microscopic. Blue, Humpback, Minke, Fin, and Sei whales are increasing there because these whale stocks are now rebuilding – many spend summers in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica to feast on its wildlife. Numerous varieties of seals and birds, such as Elephant and Leopard seals, and Snow Petrels and Albatross, also flock to Antarctica. Emperor, Adélie, Gentoo, and Chinstrap penguins are its most famous inhabitants. These penguins’ sacrifice and devotion to breeding and tending to their eggs during the harshest winters imaginable are a testament to the tenacity of life on Earth.
