Antarctica: Animal Printouts © 2007 Mr. Kent, John F. Kennedy H.S. Antarctica, the frozen continent surrounding the Earth's South Pole, and the frigid seas surrounding it, are home to many animals. In particular, the Antarctic seas are teeming with life, ranging from microscopic plankton to the biggest animal that ever lived on Earth, the Blue whale.

The South Pole is the coldest, windiest, and driest place on Earth. The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was at the South Pole; it went down to -128.6°F (-88.0°C)! The Antarctic land does not support many life forms. Most of the land of Antarctica is a frozen desert, with less precipitation than the Sahara Desert (under 2 inches = 5 cm a year). Oddly enough, 70% of the world's fresh water is frozen in the region of the South Pole.

All of the Antarctic animals have adapted to life in extremely cold conditions. Some, like the whales, seals, and birds, have an insulating layer of fat to protect them from the cold. Others, like many fish and insects, have special chemicals in their blood (natural antifreeze proteins) that keep them from freezing. Many animals (like penguins and seals) have a compact body form and thick skin to help retain body heat. Birds also have waterproof plumage (feathers) and downy insulating feathers.

Some animals leave Antarctica during its horrendous coldest months, from June until August. Animals like the Humpback whale migrate to warmer waters to reproduce after eating huge amouns of krill in Antarctic waters. Many other animals (like the Emperor penguin) remain at the South Pole year-round.

Land and sea animals from Antarctica include:

• Crustaceans - krill (euphausiids), copepods, amphipods, isopods, crabs, shrimp, sea spiders, and many others

• Other marine invertebrates - squid, cuttle-fish, octopus, marine snails, limpets, sponges, sea stars, sea squirts, nudibranchs, sea anemones, comb jellies, corals, hydroids, sea urchins, Antarctic krill, zooplankton, and many others

• Insects and Arachnids - Springtails, mites, the midge Parochlus steineni (the only winged insect native to the Antarctic), and others

• Fish - Antarctic cod, ice fish, crocodile fish, dragon fish, robber fish, rat-tailed fish, skates, eel-pouts, sea snails, and others

• Mammals - Fur seals (including the Elephant seal, Leopard seal, Weddell seal, Crabeater seal, Ross seal, and Fur seal), Whales (including the Blue whale, Fin whale, Sei whale, Southern right whale, Humpback whale, Minke whale, Sperm whale, Killer whale or Orca, Southern bottlenose whale, Blackfish, Dusky dolphin, Cruciger dolphin, and Spectacled porpoise)

• Birds - many penguins (including Emperor, King, Macaroni, Rockhopper, Chinstrap, Adélie, and Gentoo), many albatrosses (including the Lightly-maned sooty, Wandering, Gray-headed and Black-browed), many petrels (including the Blue, Kerguelen, Gray, Great-winged, White-headed, White-chinned, Snow, Southern giant, Wilson's storm, Black-bellied storm, Gray-backed storm, and pintado), many prions (including the dove, fulmar, and thin-billed), Antarctic fulmar, Antarctic cormorant Kerguelen cormorant, Dominican gull, Brown skua, McCormick's skua, Arctic tern, Kerguelen tern, Wattled sheathbill, Lesser sheathbill, South Georgia pintail, Kerguelen pintail, and South Georgia pipit (the only Antarctic songbird).

Antarctic Animal printouts:

Antarctic Krill

Small crustaceans that are eaten by many animals,

including baleen whales.

Arctic Tern

A small bird that flies from the Arctic to the

Antarctic and back again each year.

Blue Whale A baleen whale

that is the largest animal that ever lived on Earth.

Emperor Penguin The largest

penguin; it lives on ice packs in

Antarctica.

Emperor Penguin (Simple version) The largest penguin; it lives on ice

packs in Antarctica.

Emperor Penguin

Label Me! Printout

Label a diagram of an

Emperor Penguin. Answers

Humpback Whale

A long-flippered baleen whale that sings

and frolics in the water.

Minke Whale The smallest baleen

whale. It sings and has a white band on each

flipper.

Octopus Octopi have eight legs

and live on the sea floor.

Orca or Killer Whale

A toothed whale that lives in small

pods.

Penguin Penguins are birds that swim very

well but cannot fly. Many penguins live in Antarctica.

Sea Star Sea stars, another name

Spectacled Porpoise

A porpoise (a small toothed whale) from the

Sperm Whale The largest toothed

whale, over 50 feet long. It eats giant squid.

for starfish, are animals that live on the ocean

floor.

Southern Hemisphere.

Squid The squid is a fast-

swimming invertebrate with ten

arms.

Weddell Seal The Weddell seal is a

large, nocturnal pinniped from Antarctica.

Zooplankton

Zooplankton are tiny animals that float in the seas and other

bodies of water.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/Antarctica/Animalprintouts.shtml

Squid

The Squid is an invertebrate (animal without a backbone) that swims in the oceans. This mollusk is closely related to the octopus. Squid can change the color of their skin to mimic their environment and hide from predators.

Squid are soft-bodied cephalopods. They move by squirting water from the mantle through the siphon, using a type of jet propulsion. When in danger, squid squirt a cloud of dark ink in order to confuse their attacker and allow the squid to escape. Squid reproduce by releasing eggs into the water. Some squid eggs are free-floating, others are attached to seaweed or to the ocean floor.

Anatomy: Squid range from 1 to 60 ft (0.3 to 18 m) long. The biggest squid is the Giant Squid (Architeuthis). Squid have a large mantle/head (with a large brain), eight arms with suckers, two longer feeding tentacles, a beak, a large head, two large eyes, and two hearts. Their large eyes are very similar in structure to people's eyes. They breathe using gills.

Diet: Squid eat fish, crustaceans (like shrimp), and other squid. These fast-moving carnivores (meat-eaters) catch prey with their two feeding tentacles, then hold the prey with the eight arms and bite it into small pieces using a parrot-like beak. The esophagus runs through the brain, so the food must be in small pieces before swallowing.

Predators: Many animals prey upon squid, including many sharks and other fish, some whales, squid, and people.

Classification: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Mollusca, Class Cephalopoda, Order Teuthoidea, Families Loliginidae, Sepiolidae, and Architeuthidae.

Penguin

Peguins birds that cannot fly, but they swim very well and spend most of their lives in the sea. There are 17 species of penguin.

Feathers: Penguins have shiny, waterproof feathers that help keep their skin dry. They have more feathers than most other birds - about 70 feathers per square inch. Each year, penguins molt, losing their old feathers and growing new ones. Some penguins have a feathery crest (like the Macaroni penguin and the Rockhopper penguin).

Anatomy: The Emperor Penguin is the largest penguin. It is up to 3.7 feet (1.1 m) tall and weighs up to 65 pounds (30 kg); this is bit less than half the

size of an adult person. Males and females look very similar. All penguins have a big head, a short, thick neck, a streamlined shape, a short, wedge-shaped tail, and tiny, flipper-like wings. They have webbed feet which they use for swimming. Penguins are countershaded; they have a lighter color on the belly and a darker color on their back; this coloration helps camouflage them when they are in the water, hiding them from predators.

Habitat: All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere (south of the equator). They live in climates ranging from the warm tropics to the frigid Antarctic. These defenseless birds usually live on predator-free islands or on remote parts of a continent. Some penguins, like the Emperor Penguin, live on pack ice in Antarctica.

Diet: Penguins eat in the ocean. They eat fish, crustaceans (like krill, etc.), and squid.

Krill

Krill (euphausiids) are small, shrimp-like crustaceans that swim in the seas. These pink, translucent animals congregate in large, dense masses called "swarms" or "clouds," that turn areas of the ocean's surface pink. Krill are very important in the food web since many animals eat them.

There are about 85 species of krill, ranging in size from under 0.5 inch (1 cm) up to 5.5 inches (14 cm) long. The dominant krill in the southern polar oceans is the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), which is up to 2.3 inches (6 cm) long and weighs about 0.035 ounces (1 g). Antarctic krill have a life span of about 5 to 10 years. Antarctic Krill is considered to be a keystone species, an organism upon which very many Antarctic predators depend.

Diet: Krill eat phytoplankton, single-celled plants that float in the seas near the surface. Some tropical krill also eat zooplankton. Krill spend their days in the dark depths of the ocean (about 320 feet = 100 m deep), safe from their major predators (like baleen whales and sea birds). They swim to the surface each night to eat phytoplankton. They can fast (go without eating) for up to 200 days, shrinking during this time.

Anatomy: Krill have a hard exoskeleton, many legs (used for swimming and gathering food), and a segmented body. Females produce almost 1,000 eggs each summer; the eggs are laid at the surface, but fall to great depths. The hatchlings swim back to the surface to feed. Like all crustaceans, krill molt their exoskeleton as they grow.

Food Web: Phytoplankton is eaten by krill (and many other organisms). Krill are eaten by many organisms, including fish, squid, sea birds, and mammals (like baleen whales and some seals).

Classification: Kingdom Animalia (animals), Phylum Arthropoda, Subphylum Crustacea, Class Malacostraca, Order Euphausiacea.

The Weddell seal is a large marine mammal that lives in Antarctic waters and on fast ice (ice anchored to land). It is a pinniped (related to the walrus and sea lion) that does not migrate. It can dive underwater for over an an hour, and has been seen at depths of 2,300 feet (700 m). This seal vocalizes noisily underwater, using a variety of calls to communicate with other Weddell seals. Most Weddell seal activity occurs at night; these seals are primarily nocturnal. (Classification: Order Carnivora, Family Phocidae, Subfamily Monachinae, Genus Leptonychotes, Species weddellii)

Anatomy: The Weddell seal has short, thick fur. It grows to be up to 10 feet (3 m) long and can weigh up to 1,000 pounds (450 kg). The whiskers (called vibrissae) help the seal's sense of touch. The V-shaped nostrils are closed in the resting state. Weddell seals use their large, strong, forward-pointing canine teeth to chew breathing holes in cracks in the ice. This seal can see well in dim light.

Diet: Weddell seals are carnivores (meat-eaters); they eat fish, squid, octopus, krill, and other small crustaceans. Seals don't chew their food; they swallow it in large chunks. They eat their food underwater.

Predators: Weddell seals are hunted by killer whales (orcas), leopard seals, and people (they are used as food for sled dogs).

Name: These seals were named for the British Antarctic explorer James Weddell, who commanded British expeditions into the Weddell Sea (which is also named for him).

California Sea Lion

The California sea lion is a type of seal that lives in cool waters off the rocky coast of western North America. This marine mammal makes a roaring noise (hence its name), barks, and honks. Sea lions are fast swimmers, going up to 25 mph (40 kph) in short bursts. They are also very fast on land, "walking" with all four flippers.

These intelligent and social animals congregate in large groups on land (called colonies) and smaller groups in the water (called rafts). Breeding areas are called rookeries. (Classification: Suborder Pinnipedia, Family Otariidae, Subfamily Otariinae, Genus Zalophus, Species californianus)

Anatomy: The California sea lion has a thick layer of blubber (fat), short, thick fur that is dark brown to buff-colored, and a dog-like head. Males (called bulls) are darker and bigger than females. Males also have a thick furry mane around the neck. Bulls weigh up to 850 pounds (380 kg) and are up to 8 feet (2.5 m) long. Females weigh up to 250 pounds (115 kg) and are up to 6.5 feet (2 m) long. The whiskers (called vibrissae) help the seal's sense of touch. The nostrils are closed in the resting state. The sea lion has small external ears and a good sense of hearing. It also has keen eyesight but no color vision.

Diet: Sea lions are carnivores (meat-eaters); they eat fish, squid, octopi, crabs, clams, and lobsters. Seals don't chew their food. They swallow it in large chunks. They can crush the shells of crustaceans and mollusks with their flat back teeth.

Predators : Sea lions are hunted by killer whales (orcas) and some sharks.

Fish Anatomy

Fish are animals that live in water and breathe using gills. Water goes in through the mouth and out through the gills, which take oxygen from the water. Most fish swim by moving their tail (also called the caudal fin) left and right. There are many kinds of fish; some have bones but others, like sharks and rays have no bones, only cartilage. The biggest fish in the world is the Whale Shark; it is a shark but not a whale. The whale shark is up to 46 feet (14 m) long and weighs up to 15 tons.

Plankton

Plankton are microscopic organisms that float freely with oceanic currents and in other bodies of water. Plankton is made up of tiny plants (called phytoplankton) and tiny animals (called zooplankton). The word plankton comes from the Greek word "planktos" which means "drifting." Phytoplankton: Phytoplankton are primary producers (also called autotrophs). As the base of the oceanic food web, they use chlorophyll to convert energy (from sunlight), inorganic chemicals (like nitrogen), and dissolved carbon dioxide gas into carbohydrates. Zooplankton: Zooplankton are microscopic animals that eat other plankton.

• Some zooplankton are larval or very immature stages of larger animals, including mollusks (like snails and squid), crustaceans (like crabs and lobsters), fish, jellyfish, sea cucumbers, and seastars (these are called meroplankton).

• Other zooplankton are single-celled animals, like foraminifera and radiolarians.

• Other zooplankton are tiny crustaceans, like Daphnia. (If you include krill and copepods, which can swim, this group constitutes about 70 percent of all plankton)

Food Web: Plankton is the first link in the marine food chain; it is eaten by many organisms, including mussels, fish, birds, and mammals (like baleen whales).

PLANKTON

Plankton are tiny marine animals (zooplankton) and plants (phytoplankton) that drift along with ocean and lake currents, living at or near the surface. Plankton are the first link in the marine food chain Baleen whales filter feed plankton. So do the filter feeding sharks, like the whale shark, the basking shark, and the megamouth shark. Zooplankton is composed of:

• Tiny crustaceans, worms, and mollusks • Larvae and eggs from many animals • Protozoans, including foraminifera and dinoflagellates (which, when in

overabundance, cause toxic red-tides).

Phytoplankton is composed of:

• Algae (including green algae, golden algae, blue-green algae, and diatoms)

• Bacteria • Fungi.