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The dark sea floor of the Antarctic, beneath sea ice, is covered with life.
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Antarctic Ocean Floor

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Weddell seals grind their teeth on holes in the ice to keep them open to their comings and goings between ocean and air.
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Weddell Seal in Antarctic Water

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Snow petrels hunt in Antarctic sea ice, feeding on krill and fish.
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Snow Petrel

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Three distinct types of killer whale can be found in the Antarctic, each with a different habitat and diet preference.
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Orcas in the Antarctic

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The Antarctic minke whale is the only baleen whale found in the icy waters of the Antarctic.
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Antarctic Minke Whale

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Emperor penguins are the largest of the penguin species and can grow to be 100 pounds.
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Emperor Penguins on the Ice

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A small Adélie penguin hops on a piece of ice.
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Adélie Penguin Jumping Out of the Water

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Antarctica is almost entirely covered by ice sheets up to two miles (3 km) thick, which contain roughly 70% of the world’s freshwater.
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Ross Sea Ice Shelf

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Every year as the sun disappears for the winter, the surface waters around Antarctica freeze into a slab of ice 10-feet thick, which effectively doubles the size of the continent.
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Antarctic Pack Ice

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The Ross Sea is a 1.9 million square mile (3.6 million square km) stretch of ocean off the coast of Antarctica.
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Map of the Ross Sea

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Looking through this iceberg's reflection in the Antarctic water, you can see the iceberg below the surface—some 90% of its total volume.
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Blue-Green Antarctic Glacier

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A many-armed, orange starfish.
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A Filter-Feeding Starfish

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