Hover on the cards below to learn about the animals in Antarctica

Emperor penguins live in colonies on sea ice. Sea ice is frozen sea water and it forms a fringe around the Antarctic continent. In the winter, the area covered in sea ice expands. In the summer, the area shrinks as the sea ice melts. By the time the chicks are ready to fledge, the sea ice edge is close to the colony, so the young penguins don’t have to travel far to get their food.

Krill is eaten by many organisms, such as penguins, birds, and even the ginormous elephant seal! Because there are so many different organisms that feed on krill, there needs to be lots and lots of krill available, especially as they are only 5cm (2 inches) long!

Seals have thick fur coats and blubber, making them supremely well adapted to the cold. There are six species in Antarctica: Antarctic fur seals, Leopard seals, Ross seals, Southern elephant seals, Crabeater seals, and Weddell seals.

At the top of the food chain are the orcas, often known as killer whales. These are the biggest carnivores on Earth. They can reach almost 10m in length! Orcas can be found swimming all around the Earth’s oceans, but in particular in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.