Logan Steffens

Lts6@geneseo.edu

INTD105

In the heart of the Antarctica, Appendix 1 written by Earnest Shackleton he speaks about the large variety of living organisms that he witnessed in this region such as whales and emperor penguins. Groups of Weddell seals were basking on the ice. After examining an orange colored weed he found fresh water animals. He found several “red, worm-like creatures, which moved like caterpillars and stuck their head out to feed.” He found these to be rotifers and found a variety of other ones as he examined the plants more closely. Shackleton and his crew frequently interact with the penguin colonies and came to learn a lot about them while doing so.

I find it astonishing that animals have evolved to survive in such a harsh and unforgiving environment and also had me thinking about the other animals that live there such as polar bears who are going extinct because of global warming and CO2 emissions.