MAP Ronne- Filchner 430,000 km2 Casey station Palmer station Ross sea Southern Ocean

Nations that claim Antarctica

Antarctica Treaty The Antarctic treaty is a agreement that countries sign to approve that they will keep Antarctica safe and healthy. The agreement was open for nations to sign in 1959,but fully enforced in So far 12 nations have signed the agreement and also 47 countries have signed the agreement as well.

Sir Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson was born on 5 th of May 1882 and past away in 14 October 1958 he died at the age of 76. He was born in England in Shipley Yorkshire and moved to Australia with his family at the age of 2. In his early life he was a Geologist, Antarctic Explorer, and an Academic. Douglas Mawson said no to a invitation to go to Antarctica with Robert Falcon Scott but Mawson was still determined to go so he set out by himself to lead his own expedition. Douglas wanted to go to the South Magnetic Pole so he set out on a sailing boat(SY Aurora) commanded by Captain John King Davis and departed out from Hobart on the 2 December Douglas landed at Cape Denison on Commonwealth Bay on 8 th of January and built a main base. Mawson's explorers built a rocky hut and stuck through nearly every blizzard. From 1911 to 1914 he commanded the Australian Antarctic expedition. He studied the Antarctic Cape Adare, He also spent two whole winters in Adelie Land, and discovered King George V Land, Whilst his team also discovered Queen Mary Land. On his harsh trip two of his crew man died ( Xavier Mertz and Lieutenant Belgrave Ninnis) and he could not save them, Douglas could barely save himself. awson html

Human Impacts In Antarctica Hunting and fishing People hunt and fish for food and just for some fun but it’s not all that fun after all. Because of hunting a rapid decrease in animal activity has gone down, people don’t realise that if this keeps happening most of our beautiful animals will die. If people keep hunting especially in Antarctica there won’t be anything there for someone to see if they decide to go their to experience this. Sealing Because of killing Seals for their skin the population of Seals is limited. It’s estimated that 1.2 million Fur Seals have been killed for their skin. Elephant Seals are the next target for killing only for their blubber, it’s terrible. org/26442/html/human/ hunt.html Whaling People in the 20 th century have come to the Sothern Ocean to do more Whaling. The reason why is because the North is completing wiped out. Only 1% of Blue Whales are left,3% of Humpback and 30% of Fin Whales are left. Since Antarctic whaling 1.3 million whales have been killed. Fishing In the late 1960s fishing began in the South Atlantic mostly by Russians. Fish were taken but also KRILL!, there life span is short but they breed twice as fast. Taking away krill means that there won’t be as much for marine. If this keeps happening, (krill which is marines main food source) they will vanish. Visitors and tourists People go to Antarctica to see the most greatest attractions like animals such as Penguins and Seals and even Whales. But the most spectacular experience is the beautiful Glaciers that roam throughout Antarctica. Tourists go to Antarctica by ship and they go to shore for short periods of time, they leave a footprint and take photographs but even that can interfere with the animals and ice. Most moss beds are very sensitive that a footprint can last for decades and may disrupt the wildlife there. Introduced species out_antarctica/environment/wil dlife/non_native_species.php Several animals have entered Antarctica but scientists are trying to prevent the spread of these animals. Some animals and insects have entered like daddy- long- legs, flies, caterpillars, wasps, beetles, slugs, and ants just to name a few, but the most common is rats. If these rats breed in big numbers then most breeding seabirds will die on Bird Island in Antarctica and they will vanish. Research bases are trying to prevent the spread that’s why bases always check before cargo ships leave to get supplies.

Animal Report: Blue Whale Info: Blue whales are the biggest mammal on Earth maybe even bigger than some dinosaurs, it belongs to the family of Rorquals and also Baleen Whales. They are endangered and nearly hunted to extinction in 1960s due to whaling. It’s estimated that there are about 6000 Blue Whales left. Description: The Blue Whale has a Grayish-Blue appearance with gray spots across it enormous body. It has a small dorsal fin low on it’s back. The average length of a Blue Whale is about feet (22-24 Metres) but the female which is the biggest of their kind can grow 80 feet and can weigh 100 TONNES! Location: Blue Whales can be found all over the world. They migrate to warmer waters in winter, in tropical and subtropical waters. They go to colder waters in spring and summer. They travel in very small groups (also known as ‘’pods’’) usually travelling alone. Blue Whales can move very fast sometimes they can reach speeds up to 30kph. Diet: Blue Whales eat by filtering their food from the water and sieve through their baleen. They have large grooves to allow their belly to expand to take large amounts of food then it’s pushed through baleen leaving the food behind to eat. Their main food source is Plankton and Krill( Krill is similar to prawns.) Blue Whales can eat over 4 tonnes of these animals per day during summer season.

Animal Report: Blue Whale Breeding: The female Blue Whales give birth once every two to three year period after their year long gestation. The Calf is looked after for 6 to 8 months then it will stay with it’s mother for a year. The whales will reach sexual maturity at the age of 10. Calf's usually live for about years but some whales have reached the age of 80. Communication and Info: Blue Whales were once called ‘’Sulfur bottoms’’ by the whalers of the earlier centuries because of the micro-organisms and also algae that grow on it’s belly showing a yellowish appearance. The Whales communicate by clicking, moaning and buzzing. Because of this they maybe classified the loudest animal on the planet. The noise is that high pitched that it can reach 150 decibels which can be from hundreds miles under water. php

Did You Know? The nearest countries to Antarctica are South America, Africa and Australia. The sun never rises, so it’s dark all the time. The only light comes from the stars and moon. The temperature is very cold as 70c below freezing. Antarctica seaweed have adapted to life in cold waters where the surface temperature is 0c(32F) Because of whaling scientists think that there are about 6000 Blue Whales left. The wind speed in Antarctica can reach 180km an hour.

The Sun In Antarctica When it’s January and March there is heaps of daylight—twenty-four hours a day! In September, the Sun rises, and then it doesn’t come and set again until March