Humpback Whale - Humpbacks are among the most common whales to sight in the Antarctic. They can be recognized by virtue of their enormous flippers, which can reach nearly one-third of their total body length. Their bodies are generally black, but the flippers and flukes have patterns of white, which are similar to fingerprints in a human and are used by researchers for recognizing and tracking individual whales. Humpbacks migrate from the Southern ocean up to the equator, where they breed during the southern winter. Humpbacks eat krill, often using a method in which they create a cylindrical bubble net trapping the krill, which they then lunge through. While Humpbacks were exploited by whalers in the past, they have been a protected species since 1963.
Crabeater Seal - Crabeater seals are among the worlds most populous large mammals, with a dramatic population increase in the past fifty years, likely due to the declining numbers of whales. Crabeaters are generally dark grey, but in the polar summer their coats can be bleached to a near white. Despite the name, crabeaters generally eat krill, with the occasional small fish or squid. They are much more agile on land and ice than other Antarctic seals, and crabeater remains have been found miles from the sea. Crabeater pups grow rapidly, often gaining 200 pounds in the three weeks after birth.
Leopard Seal - Leopard seals are considered the most ferocious seal in the Antarctic. They are the only seals to prey on other species of seal, and there is much folklore about attacks on humans. While these are mostly unproven, scientist stay a fair distance away from "sea leopards". Leopard seals bear a remarkable resemblance to snakes, with a long neck and arching back. The leopard seal name comes from black spots on the seals white throat. Leopard seals have long, sharp teeth, excellent for eating penguins, their main source of food. This causes the oft-seen behavior of penguins to crowd on a ledge until one penguin falls in, testing for the presence of a seal. The only known natural predator of leopard seals in the killer, or orca, whale.
Elephant Seal - Elephant seals, named for their size of ten feet or more and weight of over one ton, were heavily exploited for oil during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The populations have since recovered. These seals have brown skin and squarish heads, and the males are up to three times as large as the females. Elephant seals are fast in the water, but slow on land. They eat fish, squid, and the occasional penguin, and have no natural predators. Elephant seals possess the remarkable ability to dive for up to two hours, lowering their heart rates as low as one beat per minute. Mature males compete to establish breeding rights, with the victorious bull claiming a harem of up to fifty females. Elephant seals can quadruple their weight within three weeks of birth.
Magellanic Penguin - Magellan penguins live in the temperate wwaters of coastal Argentina and Chile. With black/brown shading on its backside and colored white on the front, the Magellan penguin is easily recognized by its distinctive black stripes on the chin and stomach. These penguins are long distance swimmers, hunting in groups to catch their prey of krill, fish, squid, and other sea life. Souther sea lions hunt the Magellan, and Kelp gulls and Giant petrels often feed upon unguarded chicks and eggs.
Chinstrap Penguin - While superficially similar to Adelie penguins, the Chinstrap penguin has a distinctive black like connecting their black head underneath the white chin. With over four million estimated pairs, the chinstrap is the second most abundant penguin after the macaroni. They can be found on the Antarctic peninsula and many southern islands.
Gentoo Penguin - Gentoo's are white and black with an orange bill, making them one of the most recognizable penguin types around. They are slightly smaller than Adelies and Chinstraps. Gentoo's breed during the winter months, occasionally laying eggs as early as July. Their diet consists of fish and small crustaceans. Gentoo populations at their sub-Antarctic breeding locations have been showing alarming decreases in recent years, although the overall population of 300,000 breeding pairs seems stable.
Macaroni Penguins - Macaroni penguins possess a distinctive orange tassel between the eyes, which help to distinguish them. The macaroni is the most abundant of the Antarctic penguins, with a breeding population of over 11.8 million pairs. In a breeding habit that continues to puzzle ornithologists, macaronis lay two eggs and then generally kick the first egg out of the nest. Macaronis eat lantern fish and crustaceans, caught by diving in shallow waters.
Information is compiled from the Antarctic Connection.