When the Sun Shines on Antarctica: And Other Poems about the Frozen Continent
WHEN THE SUN SHINes ON antarctica Icebergs brighten as the sky peels itself of darkness and stretches awake Glaciers murmur Penguins reunite and seals rouse from slumber Whales breach and blow waves rush and slush against shifting ice shelves Welcome Summer We've been waiting for
Positioned at the bottom of the world Antarctica is the coldest continent It s basically an island cloaked in ice Summer lasts from when the sun rises in October to when it sets in March like one very long day Temperatures during this time usually stay well below freezing allowing Antarctica's wildlife to feed and breed Although the continent has no permanent human residents each year several thousand scientists travel there to conduct research Climate change is an important area of study as rising temperatures cause Antarctica's surface ice to melt This melting has the potential to affect weather worldwide to cause flooding along Earth's coastal areas and to disrupt the entire planets
ADélie SeekiNG arélie in a mental Wanted a guy with a white ringed eye who looks just like me An accomplished builder who borders the nest with the best pebbles to protect my eggs from the dregs of melting snow A boy with a pleasing bray who will stay all summer A mate who will meet me here year after year after year
in the national in his new AND After months at sea Adélie penguins return to the Antarctic continent to breed during the summer season These loud hyperactive penguins are medium sized and live in large colonies called rookeries To attract a female males dig shallow nests with their feet and strategically place stones along the edges to create a rim The bigger the nest the more impressed the female Because nest building is so competitive and because nests are built within pecking distance of one another Adélie penguins will often steal stones from their neighbors Once the female selects a mate she generally lays two eggs which increases the chance of at least one egg surviving Each summer she returns to the nesting site to repeat these courtship and breeding
