Nature in Antarctica

Activity 1

Food WebFood Web

The food web shown here is a representation of predator and prey, the complicated way that animals eat each other. Another way of showing this information is a food pyramid. Phytoplankton is extremely small, so lots are needed to feed krill and copepods. These feed fish, birds and squid which in turn feed seals which feed whales and so on and so on. If any animal was to be removed, every animal that feeds on that animal would go hungry, even die. If the animals that feed on it die than other animals will be affected which will lead to the whole food chain being affected.

Activity 2

Against whaling• Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil.

• Commercial whaling has been banned for over two decades yet Japan, Iceland and Norway continue firing harpoons at these gentle creatures for products.

• Hundreds of whales die every year due to whale hunting. Many people ask what animal is the most deadliest but the answer is something that they would not expect. The answer is…. HUMANSHUMANS. There are many things that humans have done to destroy nature and whaling is just part of the numerous examples of what man has done to nature.

Activity 3

SpreadingSpreading• Animals spread disease among themselves by migration

and scavenging. If a seal or penguin dies, leopard seals or birds will eat the meat, then transferring any disease to the scavenger. Also, migratory birds will spread through contact.

PreventingPreventing

• Human disease in animals can be prevented by limited contact with them. Eradication and treatment of infected animals can weed out the disease.

Activity 4

Emperor penguin

There are 400 000 emperor penguins left in Antarctica and they live in the Weddell and Ross Seal Regions. They can grow to up to 40 inches tall and weight 88 pounds. They eat fish, krill and crustaceans.

Life CycleLife Cycle

Full-Grown

Egg

Chick

BibliographyBibliography

• http://www.auroraexpeditions.com.au• http://3.bp.blogspot.com• http://images.smh.com.au• http://www.google.com.au/imgres• http://www.spacemen3.co.uk/images/sp3logo.gif• http://wildwhales.org/wp-content/themes/wildwhales/

images/minke7_popup.jpg• http://haleyspractice.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/3-

3.png• http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/wildlife/

penguins/emperor.shtml