Life in Antarctic

Human
There are no native inhabitants in Antarctica except scientists and researchers who are sent there to conduct seasonal (summer) or year-long research in their permanent base stations. During summer, the total population may rise up to 4,000 personnel while during winter, the number may dwindle down to 1,000 personnel.

Flora & Fauna
Due to it's harsh environment, the wildlife of Antarctica mostly thrive in the sea such as krills, squids, jelly fish, arrow worms, comb jellies, snails, salps, seals, whales, penguins and sea birds like skuas, petrels, terns and albatrosses.

There are 7 species of penguins that can be found on the frozen land: Adelie penguins, Gentoo penguins, Chinstrap penguins, King penguins, Rockhopper penguins, Macaroni penguins and Emperor penguins - the only species that stays during the winter.

Antarctica also have their share of seals, including Crabeater seals, Leopard seals, Elephant seals, Weddell seals and Antarctic Fur seals, with Weddell seals the only seal species that can be found year-round. Other seals migrate to the north by following the pack ice.

Whales are the largest mammal that can be found in the Antarctic waters and only during the summertime. The species of whale that can be seen around the continent are Southern Right Whale, Blue Whale, Fin Whale, Minke Whale, Humpback Whale, Sperm Whale, Arnoux's Beake Whale, Southern Bottlenose Whale, Hourglass Dolphin and Killer Whale.

There are no large land animals save microorganism such as protozoa, nematodes, rotifers, tardigardes and the minuscule invertebrates such as mites, springtails and midges. The largest land animal is only 12mm (approximately 0.5 inch) - the midge insect. Penguins and seals are of bird family and polar bears are only found in Arctic.

The land flora on the continent are mainly algae, lichen and mosses. There are around 300 species of algae, around 200 species of lichen, 85 species of moss and 25 species of liverwort have been observed. In the Antarctic Peninsula, where the climate is less colder, two flowering plants (Deschampsia antarctica an Colobanthus quitensis) have thrived and are one of the study subjects of many scientists who wanted to uncover the secrets of the plant's freezing tolerance and cold-acclimatisation capabilities.