While we’ve learned a great deal about the creatures that call these places home in the modern day, the expansion and contraction of ice sheets around 720 to 580 million years ago has made it challenging for researchers to learn about the wide range of organisms they believe once existed in the region. While Earth was covered in ice at the time, evidence indicates sea ice might have been thin enough to allow algae and other microorganisms to survive beneath it and larger organisms like anemones to live atop it. 

Humans, too, have an important history with the South Pole. While it was initially assumed that the first human visitors to the Antarctic were European, some clues point to the region having been discovered first by Polynesian explorers more than a millennium prior. Through examining oral histories and art, some researchers have theorized that an explorer named Hui Te Rangiora and his crew traveled into the Antarctic waters 1,300 years ago, arguing against the common idea.

The constant conversation about global warming and the melting of sea ice might lead one to believe that both our poles are endangered, but this isn’t quite accurate. Despite a major decline in the Arctic, sea ice has actually been expanding in the Antarctic. Although some regions still show a degree of loss, the sea-ice decline has been consistently slowing in recent years, and the overall trend shows that the amount of sea ice has been increasing since 1979. This marks a strong contrast to the near 20% of Arctic ice that has been lost in the time since, which has scientists puzzled. Why the mismatch? Is this growing habitat a boon to the Antarctic, or does the decreasing temperature spell danger for its residents? Unfortunately, it might be the latter.

Research found that in 2023 the continent broke both the record for the largest and smallest sea ice spread in recorded history, meaning the seasonal shift is growing more drastic and more dangerous. While expansion would give more space to live, the drastic decline disrupted emperor penguin breeding cycles and strongly impacted the krill population. Krill, which rely on sea ice for protection throughout their life cycle, are the basis of the entire Antarctic food web, feeding fish, seals, whales, and penguins. Scientists predict that if the current trend continues, Antarctica could lose 80% of its sea ice habitat by 2100. Should this happen, Antarctic life could be eliminated entirely.

Antarctica is a remarkable environment, home to a myriad of species that have evolved to a delicate symbiosis with their habitat. While projections aren’t ideal for the continent and its residents, researchers are still studying and monitoring it closely and are hoping for a positive trend in the future.

Antarctic Pack Ice

Photographs by Michael Nolan