Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
family and the only one to breed on the Antarctic continent during the winter season. An
adult Emperor can stand over 1 metre tall and weigh 40 kilograms and towers above the
diminutive Rockhopper. Other birds include petrels, terns, skuas, and the famous albatross
family, including the Amsterdam, Black-Browed, Grey-Headed, Royal, and Shyqongovern-
ment and Wandering varieties. The Wandering Albatross, associated with the poet Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, is the bird of the Southern Ocean. It is truly majestic to watch as its
3.5-metre wingspan allows it to gracefully float above the sea. It is estimated that there
may be around 20,000 breeding pairs scattered around the islands of the Southern Ocean
such as South Georgia. However, concern has been expressed that fishing activities are
having a deleterious effect on the albatross due to so-called longline fishing, whereby the
birds are caught up in fishing lines and subsequently drown. Like the penguin family, krill
and fish are vital elements in the diets of albatross. Some albatross can remain at sea for
years, and thus never land until breeding.
Seals are a major element in the Southern Ocean and, despite being subject to intense
rounds of resource exploitation alongside whales, are to be found in sizeable numbers. The
species include the Fur, Crabeater, Leopard, Ross, Southern Elephant, and Weddell. While
they vary in size and breeding characteristics, the Leopard Seal enjoys a formidable repu-
tation. Adults can be over 3 metres long and weigh some 400-500 kilograms. They are
largely solitary creatures, living as they do around the pack ice in the summer and sub-
Antarctic islands in the winter. They eat penguins as well as other seals' pups and also fish.
Some 200,000 Leopard Seals are believed to exist within the Antarctic. Under the Conven-
tion on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS), formerly hunted seals such as the Ross
and Fur varieties are now afforded protection.
Whales make the Southern Ocean a seasonal home, and were hunted in great numbers, es-
pecially in the first part of the 20th century. The Blue, Fin, Humpback, Killer, Minke, Sei,
Southern Right, and Sperm varieties feed and breed in and around the Antarctic. The sum-
mer population of the Orca (Killer Whale) may exceed 80,000, and this distinctive creature
with its black and white markings and tall dorsal fin was last commercially harvested in
1979-80. Other whales such as the Humpback, Blue, and Southern Right were also tar-
geted for exploitation. The Southern Right, a slow-moving and inshore visiting species, was
'right' because it was relatively easy to kill and helpfully remained afloat once slaughtered.
Oil could then be exploited in sizeable quantities, especially given that an adult Southern
Right could exceed 17 metres and weigh in the region of 80-90 tons. In the mid-19th cen-
tury, whalers targeted this whale and continued to do so for another hundred years. The
politics of whaling is controversial as rival states continue to argue over conservation and
scientific research measures.
