Antarctic ecosystem

Antarctic animals all make their living in the ocean, because the land is too cold, dry, and dark for plants and animals. Antarctica’s coastal seas are especially important because they shelter an abundant ecosystem, supporting large predators such as penguins, seals and whales. Find out about this unusual ecosystem, and how so many big sea creatures depend on tiny plant cells to keep the system working! (Illustration by Jayne Doucette, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)