12 Epic Polar Adventures

12 Epic Polar Adventures — page 1 — 1 Antarctic Peninsula Is a Snowy Mountain Chain Antarctica is the continent at the South Pole It is in the Southern Ocean Antarctica is Earth’s fifth largest continent Its area is almost twice that of Australia A huge ice sheet covers Antarctica It never rains there This makes Antarctica a desert It is the coldest place on Earth The only plants that grow are moss and algae The Antarctic Peninsula is a long thin mountain The Chinstrap Penguin known for the narrow black band under its head has few natural enemies in the frozen South Pole chain It stretches north toward South America It is the closest place in Antarctica for tourists to reach They start out from a town at the tip of Argentina called the End of the World They sail across the Beagle Channel and through the Drake Passage It takes four days to reach Antarctica The peninsula is covered with snowy mountain peaks Penguins seabirds and seals live on the land Whales swim in the icy water Visitors can camp kayak or snowshoe 4

12 Epic Polar Adventures — page 2 — 1,640 Approximate depth in feet 500 m of Antarctica’s ice sheet Antarctica is the continent at the South Pole The peninsula reaches up from Antarctica toward Argentina It is home to penguins and whales Scientists in research stations study weather and geology Scientists from Argentina Chile and the United Kingdom have set up 82 research stations on the peninsula They study weather and geology In the summer 4,000 scientists are THE RACE TO THE SOUTH POLE In the early 1900s Antarctica was Earth’s last unexplored continent Britain Japan Germany Sweden Norway France and Belgium all hoped to send the first explorer to the South Pole On December 14 1911 Norwegian Roald Amundsen arrived there with a team of four people and 52 sled dogs there In the winter that number falls to 1,000 Sometimes tour group leaders take visitors to the research bases Scientists show visitors where to see special wildlife and scenery Humpback whales are the most abundant whale in the waters around Antarctica 5

12 Epic Polar Adventures — page 3 — 2 South Georgia Island Has Ties to Famous Expedition South Georgia Island is in the South Atlantic Ocean It is 1,200 miles 1,930 km east of the tip of Argentina Antarctica lies to the south Visitors travel by sea from South America to reach the island There they see snow-covered mountain peaks and glaciers Penguins seals and seabirds cover the beaches Sir Ernest Shackleton was a British explorer In 1914 he set sail from London on board his ship Endurance He and his crew planned to walk across Antarctica The Endurance got stuck in ice It drifted for 10 months before it was crushed by 3 Number of days it takes to reach South Georgia Island by boat from Argentina A former whaling station on South Georgia Island Shackleton was buried on the island in 1922 6 South Georgia Island is in the South Atlantic Ocean Sir Ernest Shackleton found help there in 1916 Visitors see seals and penguins

12 Epic Polar Adventures — page 4 — The last moments of the Endurance before it was crushed by ice and sank THINK ABOUT IT Shackleton and his crew faced great danger in Antarctica The weather was extremely cold Food was hard to get Ice made sailing difficult Why do explorers take such risks South Georgia Island is much the same today as when Shackleton landed It is cold and often windy Visitors can walk among crowds of king penguins Seal pups play and bark in the grass Elephant seals lounge on the beach and romp in the water 7 ice and sank All 28 men survived by riding on ice floes It took six months for the crew to reach land They stayed alive by eating seal and penguin meat In 1916 Shackleton and five of his men sailed 800 miles to South Georgia Island They found help at a whaling station They were able to rescue the rest of the crew Visitors to the island can see the whaling station

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