Animals of the North Pole (The Arctic) 1
The Arctic is located at the North Pole of the Earth and is shared by 8 countries. The winters here are very long and harsh, and the sun is not seen for most of the season. On the other hand, summer is very short, consisting of consecutive days during which the sun never sets. The Arctic is a small, shallow, partially frozen ocean surrounded by large, windy tundra, flat, open landforms with frozen subsoil called permafrost. Plants may bloom briefly in late spring. Many polar animals live there due to their adaptation to extremely low temperatures. However, many other animals choose to stay there only during the summer months, migrating when the cold gets too intense. We are talking here about some of the most emblematic species of the territory.
Pinnipeds
Pinnipeds are semi-aquatic marine mammals with flipper-like legs. They include walruses (the only surviving Odobenidae), Otariidae (sea lions and fur seals), and Phocidae (seals and elephant seals). All of these animals are traditionally hunted by indigenous peoples of the Arctic for their meat, fat, and fur. Female marbled seals (the smallest of the pinnipeds) are between 1.20 and 1.40 meters long, while male elephant seals (the largest of the pinnipeds) are closer to 5 meters.
Marbled seals weigh around 50 kg, while male elephant seals can weigh up to 2.5 tonnes. Most species are preyed upon by killer whales (found in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as tropical waters). Large sharks such as great white sharks, tiger sharks and makos are also big consumers of pinnipeds.
On the Arctic sea ice, one will encounter harp seals, bearded seals and marbled seals. The latter employ a particular strategy to escape predators, including polar bears: they nest under the pack ice.
Seals have fusiform bodies covered in short waterproof fur. They do not have external ears, but can be identified by their sensory tentacles (often called whiskers). If they seem clumsy to us on land, they are very agile in water.
Seals spend most of their time at sea, only returning to land to breed and rest. Seals have a 7-10 cm thick layer of fat that protects them from the cold. This layer insulates the joint from cold, air and water, keeping its internal temperature at 37°C even when swimming in freezing water with temperatures below 0°C. Their cylindrical body shape also helps to reduce heat loss while giving them a streamlined profile that makes traveling at sea very efficient.
Polar bears
Polar bears are one of the iconic species of the Arctic. It's not in Antarctica. Why ? To answer this question, we must go back 200 million years, when the only existing supercontinent, Pangea, disintegrated, severely preventing the mixing of species. Two hypotheses coexist to explain the absence of bears in Antarctica: No specimen has been found in the part corresponding to present-day Antarctica, or the individuals who live there have not survived climate change.
Polar bears are particularly good at hunting Arctic seals and walruses, especially young walruses. It has curved claws 5 to 7 cm long, and its legs are partially webbed. It can smell its prey at a distance of 10 kilometers. Its vision is more effective because its eyes have third eyelids which filter the rays of the sun strongly reflected by the pack ice. If in summer its coat is yellow-white, in winter it is completely white, which makes it difficult to spot for prey.
When hunting, he can choose between two different strategies: waiting for his prey to remain motionless, or chasing it on the ice or even in the water. Without seals, polar bears would eat carrion, plants and birds. Its population today is estimated between 22,000 and 31,000.