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NGSS: Core Idea: LS4.C, ESS2.D
CCSS: Reading Informational Text: 6.
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My Antarctic Adventure
Join a SuperScience writer on a trip to the coldest continent
LINDSEY GROTHKOPP
Hi, readers! I’m Hailee, and I’ve always loved to travel. In November 2021, I joined a team of scientists and photographers on a three-week expedition to Antarctica on a ship called the National Geographic Explorer.
JIM MCMAHON/MAPMAN ®
I quickly realized that Antarctica is unlike any other place on Earth. Have you ever been to a place where penguins outnumber people? Or where a piece of ice bigger than a building might float past you at any time?
Leaving from the southern tip of Argentina, we sailed through the Drake Passage. Large waves—some nearly 12 meters (39 feet) high—rocked the ship. It’s hard to believe that the explorer Ernest Shackleton sailed through the same water in a tiny lifeboat in 1916.
We spent a week exploring the Antarctic Peninsula. We also stopped at the island of South Georgia, the same place Shackleton landed to get help for his stranded crew. Here are a few of the coolest things I got to see on this amazing continent.
Cold and Bright
Our trip began at the start of summer in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. But in Antarctica, even summer is chilly. Temperatures stayed around -5°C (23°F). We wore many layers of clothing to stay warm.
The ice and snow reflect sunlight, so we always wore sunscreen and often sunglasses. Because of Antarctica’s latitude, on some summer days, the sun doesn’t set at all!
Orcas on the Move
HAILEE ROMAIN
One day, we sailed past a group of orcas. These large toothed whales live all over the world but are most common in cold waters. Orcas live in family units called pods. We watched them jump and slap the water with their tails! Scientists think they do this to communicate.
Ice Everywhere
Glacier ice is very dense because pockets of air have been squeezed out of it.
Antarctica is covered in glaciers that form an ice sheet up to 4 kilometers(2.5 miles) thick. Glaciers are masses of ice that slowly flow like frozen rivers. They form when layers of snow are pressed down over thousands of years.
Pieces of ice that break off glaciers into the water are called icebergs. We sailed past icebergs the size of buildings!
Plenty of Penguins
Gentoo penguins sitting on nests
Adult Adélie penguins are about 2 feet tall.
Five penguin species live on the continent of Antarctica, and we saw four: chinstraps, gentoos, macaronis, and Adélies. My favorites were the Adélies. They are the smallest Antarctic penguins—and so cute!
Penguins live mostly in the ocean. They come on land in the summer to breed. We watched male gentoo penguins build nests out of rocks. We even spotted a few eggs!
Final Stop
Elephant seals move clumsily on land, but they are very graceful swimmers!
We visited the island of South Georgia, between Antarctica and Argentina. There we saw elephant seals and huge colonies of king penguins. We also visited the grave of Shackleton, who died six years after the Endurance expedition. I didn’t face the same challenges he did—but my trip was still an adventure! Antarctica has landscapes and wildlife like nowhere else. That’s what makes it so important to protect.