Animals Everywhere In Antarctica
Sunday, July 18th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
You’d be surprised that the farthest southern living animal is actually a pink mite. This tiny creature is only 1/100th of an inch long. Looking very similar to a spider, it dines on algae and fungi. A Hawaiian museum entomologist located this mite only a short time ago, as close as 309 miles to the South Pole.Lichens have been discovered within 266 miles of the Pole, as well. This is the closest any living organism has ever been found.
Antarctica is so hostile that only insects and insect-like creatures can inhabit the continent year-round, according to published reports. You’ll need some sort of magnification to see the majority of the 56 species of arthropods that have already been classified on Antarctica. One insect you could easily see is about the size of a common horsefly. It’s a wingless fly. During the severe winters, the animals hibernate, but when the air reaches the melting point of water, thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit, they come back to life. You will find info on Cruises to Antarctica by visiting that site.
The waters surrounding the continent are starkly different than the land. They are bustling with life from microscopic shrimp to the blue whale, which is the largest living being on the planet. Scientist, in the search for more knowledge of sea life, put a six by four foot capsule under the water. Using one of the six windows to peer out, scientist took turns viewing the sea. Sounds could be detected and recorded through a hydrophone that was placed on the exterior of the capsule.
Pulling its thirty foot tentacles behind it, a jelly fish passed the windows. The scientists didn’t see many other fish. Seals were constantly surrounding the chamber. They were very curious about it. The hydrophones provided their sounds: chirps, beeps, buzzes and whistles. This was a din that hadn’t ever been heard, according to one scientist.
These noises help the Weddell seals to navigate and communicate. The navigation theory helps scientist understand how the seals could find food and sources of air in the dark waters. The recordings of seal sounds are being carefully researched. Some of the sounds can’t even be heard by human ears. If you are in search of info don’t forget to view this resource great Antarctic cruise.
The creation of these sounds by the seals still stumps scientists. Their nostrils and mouths are kept tightly shut when they go underwater. The deepest a mammal has ever been recorded to dive is nearly 1500 feet; this was a Weddell seal. One seal was able to stay submerged for over 28 minutes. This is also a record. One zoologist was lucky enough to get a sample of a mother seal’s milk. The high fat content, much more than human milk, allows seal pups to be the fastest weight-gainers of all mammals. Newborn seals can multiply their weight five times in just six weeks.
Using specially-equipped dive suits, scientists have looked at the oceans surrounding Antarctica. They even found red, among other colored, seaweed growing on the sea floor. Scientists also found red and white species of starfish in addition to large sponges and very long worms.
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