Antarctica

Wandering Albatross spend about 75% of their lives on the wing over water, searching for food.

These animals breed in the sub-Antarctic islands, and are not found on the continent itself.

You can read more about them, below.

Yes. The ice is thicker in some places than in others. Around the beaches, it's not as thick as it is at the South Pole: more than 10,000 feet thick.

There is no commercial extraction of natural resources from the Antarctic continent as exists on the other six continents.

Antarctica's 'natural research' is scientific data, and since data is factual and constant, there are no sustainability issues related to gathering it.

All the other oceans are North of the Antarctic.

Some years have had as many as 40,000 visitors, 37,000 Tourists and 4,000 Scientists and Workers. 29,000 visited in 2011. The grand total is somewhere near a half Million.

There are no animals on Antarctica; there is no food chain there: it's too cold.

Simply because - a dessert is defined as a place where there is little or no life. In Antarctica, the frozen, snow-covered land covers such as vast area, and has almost no life on it - that it can legitimately be called a dessert !

It is a sweet place, after all.

Eighty percent of the planet's population, represented by their governments, have signed or ratified the Antarctic Treaty.

The treaty preserves all land and ice south of 60 degrees S, for the scientific study of the health of planet Earth. It's Marine Protocols also protect the Southern Ocean and its inhabitants in the same geography.

The reasons for this decision may have been both scientific and practical. Antarctica is too cold to support life, making commercial exploitation very expensive and impractical.

The flight time for flights between the above places is 18.5 hours

This is an approximate travel time. The actual time might change depending on the flight path chosen, weather conditions, etc.

No, not in the standard concept of 'inhabited areas'. Antarctica is home to various research facilities supported by different countries. These facilities are usually less than one square kilometer in size. In the summer, there are usually 4-5,000 people on the continent, and in the winter, less than 1,000.

Antarctica is the coldest continent on earth, and 98% of its surface is covered by an ice sheet. There is relatively no or little humidity on the continent -- less than five percent. These combine to make Antarctica an ice desert.

No, Antarctica is a continent and krill live in salt water. The Southern Ocean which surrounds the continent, however, is home to krill, specifically Euphasia subperba, Antarctic krill, which form the base of the food chain in that ocean.

The skua bird is sometimes called a scavenger.

During the Southern Hemisphere summer (Dec 21 to March 22), the Antarctic continent south of the Antarctic Circle experiences at least one 24 hour period of daylight. At South Pole, there is no sunset for six months.

During the Southern Hemisphere winter (June 21 to Sept 22), the Antarctic continent south of the Antarctic Circle experiences at least experiences one 24 hour period of darkness. At the South Pole, there is no sunrise for six months.

Since the continent of Antarctica is 10% of the earth's surface: as large as USA and Mexico, combined, the length of 24 hour sun or no sun varies, as above

The total size of Antarctica is 14 million sq. kilometers. When the Southern Ocean sea ice freezes, its "(total) size" increases to 20 million sq kilometers over the winter, because the sea ice joins with the ice sheet that covers 98% of the continent.

Land Area: 5.1 million square miles
Coastline Length: 11,165 miles

There is no permanent population on the continent of Antarctica.

Because Antarctica is a "polar" region, there is no precipitation, it has no lakes or rivers and is in fact the driest continent. Average temperatures in the Antarctic interior get down to -70 degrees Celsius during the winter months and -35 degrees Celsius in the warmer months. The coastal temperatures are much warmer with a range of -15 to -32 Celsius in Winter and -5 to +5 Celsius in Summer. The interior of Antarctica is considered the world's driest desert because the extreme cold freezes water vapour out of the air. Annual snowfall on the polar plateau is equivalent to less than 5 cm of rain. Antarctica has some of the strongest winds on earth, with some winds reaching 320 kph.

There are deposits of minerals such as coal and iron ore, but there are vast economic and technical difficulties associated with the recovery of mineral deposits.

The Antarctic ice cover is, on average, 2.5 kilometres thick and this means that very little of the land is accessible for exploration, so work would have to take place under the ice sheet.

The temperature in the Antarctic freezes mechanical lubricants, gasoline, hydraulics and so forth, making any mining operation a challenge.

The difficult Antarctic conditions, even when the technology works well elsewhere make exploitation unlikely.

Once minerals are mined, Antarctica is a long way from world markets, and material would have to be transported over the treacherous Southern Ocean. Cheaper sources exist elsewhere in the world, and these will be exploited before Antarctic sources.

So far, the economics of extracting resources from the harsh Antarctic environment have prevented any commercial operations, but Antarctica's climate may not protect its minerals indefinitely.

What does prevent such exploitation is a strong, well-supported international agreement. Nations of the Antarctic Treaty System agreed in 1991 to put a halt to the exploitation of minerals when they signed a comprehensive Protocol on Environmental Protection (the Madrid Protocol), which banned mining in Antarctica indefinitely. This important agreement came into force in January 1998.

Yes. I saw it in April a few years back when I was staying at Silver Sands Resort on the south coast of Barbados. It was high enough in the sky that I could see all four stars. Really a thrill!

Penguins, and seals of various species are found in Antarctica (NOT polar bears!!) In Idaho, there are various farm animals like cows, horses, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc., and wildlife like deer, antelope, bison, elk, eagles, hawks, songbirds, etc.

Antarctica is not a tourist destination in the traditional sense. It has no tourist facilities, hotels or airports. A few airlines fly over Antarctica to show you the sights, then fly back to where they came from without landing. At least one company runs mountain climbing expeditions, but they make it clear that you need to be experienced and capable and fit enough to endure the rigours or polar mountaineering. Unless you are engaged in some sort of research with a large government grant, you really have no business being there.

yes, the eagle

Because Antarctica is a "polar" region, there is no precipitation, it has no lakes or rivers and is in fact the driest continent.

Average temperatures in the Antarctic interior get down to -60 degrees Celsius during the winter months and -28 degrees Celsius in the warmer months.

The coastal temperatures are much warmer with a range of -15 to -32 Celsius in Winter and -5 to +5 Celsius in Summer.

The interior of Antarctica is considered the world's driest desert because the extreme cold freezes water vapour out of the air.

Annual snowfall on the polar plateau is equivalent to less than 5 cm of rain.

Antarctica has some of the strongest winds on earth, with some winds reaching 320 kph.