Arctic & Antarctic

There is a tiny creature that lives in the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica. It weighs about the same as a big pinch of salt (two grams). It is so numerous that it has been called the biggest living mass on our planet. Huge swarms can be seen from space! These swarms are so tightly packed t...

Arctic food web and the impacts of Climate Change Climate change is having a rapid impact on the Arctic food web on land and on the ice. The Arctic is home to the polar bear, caribou, musk oxen, walrus, the beluga and bowhead whales. The creatures most at risk from a warming planet are those that p...

Indigenous people of the Arctic and impacts of Climate Change With a one degree of warming at the equator there are four to six degrees of warming in the Arctic. For the Inuit people who live in this freezing environment the changes are both economic and cultural. They will be affected by shifting ...

Sea ice is found floating around on the icy waters of The Arctic. It’s also found floating around the continent of Antarctica. Sea ice is always on the move. It crunches and grinds its way across the polar regions with the wind and ocean currents. Sea ice is an important habitat for seals, walrus...

Has the hunting of whales to the brink of extinction in the twentieth century caused a drop in krill numbers in the Southern Ocean? With almost two million whales killed in the Southern Ocean between 1900 and 1970 you would think that the krill would be pretty happy. Thriving with one of their major...

Krill are found all over the world and are important components of many ecosystems, but Antarctic krill occupy an extremely important place in the Antarctic food web. They are thought to have the largest population of any species on Earth. Blue whales can eat up to 4 tons of krill per day, and o...