By Gaia Cassar

 The Arctic is a very cold, windy, and often snowy biome located around the North Pole.

 Although there is no land at the North Pole, the icy Arctic Ocean is full with life ranging from the very small (like zooplankton) to the huge (like whales).zooplankton

 POLAR BEARS - They spend most of their time on the pack ice or in the water.  Their favourite food is the ringed seal.

 Whales - They are able to live in the cold waters of the Arctic. They have a thick layer of blubber under their skin.   Bowhead  Beluga  Narwhal

 Walrus - Walruses are pinnipeds.pinnipeds  Pinni means wing or fin and pedis means foot.  They like to live in shallow water by ice floes or land. ice floe A large, flat area of ice floating on water. Walrus walk on all four fins. He can even move on land as fast as a man can run.

 HARP SEALS –  Harp seals prefer to swim in the ocean, spending little time on land.ocean  These are very social animals and can be very noisy as well.social

 This is also known as the South Pole.  Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent.  There are no permanent human residents.  Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there.

 Penguins –  About 40 known penguin colonies are found in Antartica.  Emperor Penguins  Chinstrap Penguins  Macaroni Penguins  Rockhopper Penguins

 Seals –  Weddell seals live on the edge of the ice all year round and dive down beneath it to feed.  Fur seals are very quick due to their flippers, and because they do not have as much blubber as other types.

 Whales –  Whales species: blue, fin, humpback, minke, orcas, right, sei, sperm  Whales are mammals. This means that they are not fish.  Whales are warm blooded and have a skeleton similar to our own.

 Killer whales can tackle elephant seals stingrays, dolphins, sharks and full-grown whales.  They both have mosses and lichens.  The Arctic and Antarctic both have seals.  They both have whales and birds.  They both have krill and fish.

 The Arctic has polar bears and the Antarctic does not.  The Antarctic has penguins and the Arctic doesn't.  The Antarctic has no trees.  The Arctic has Tundra with rich plant life in Spring and Summer.  Antarctic has algae but not the Arctic.  Antarctica has mainly calm animals but the Arctic has some fierce ones.

 Now that you know a bit about animals that live in the far end of the world….  Do you know why Polar Bears and Penguins never meet?????  Because…. The Polar Bear lives in the North Pole and the Penguin lives in the South Pole!!

 Hope you enjoyed my show and have learnt a little bit about these special places in the world.  Unfortunately a lot of these animals are in danger.  Global warming and hunters are putting their lives at risk.  Let’s do something to save them……  Think what YOU can do.