You will see a lot of penguins when visiting Antarctica (see my previous blog post here) but don’t make the mistake of thinking that penguins are the only animal life you will see. After my trip with Quark Expeditions we were given a full list of wildlife sightings while on the trip. This list is too long to reproduce here but suffice to say along with the penguins I have previously described we saw:
- four species of albatross
- twelve species of petrel/shearwater
- two species of cormorant
- one species of sheathbill
- three species of skua
- four species of gull/tern
- three species of whale
- one species of dolphin
- four species of seal/fur seal.
If you have been reading my blog posts you will know that all this was experienced on a trip exclusively to the Antarctic peninsula.
Following are a few of my favourite photos showing animal life (excluding the penguins) in Antarctica.
Birds
Whales
Seals and fur seals
Conclusions
For me, the penguins were fascinating and there was also a wide variety of other animal life to keep this natural history enthusiast very excited with this Antarctic trip. I suspect the great majority of visitors to Antarctica have a love for all forms of natural history and for that person, Antarctica is a fantastic place to visit. If you are thinking about visiting the southern continent I hope this series of posts on Antarctica continues to whet your appetite and encourages you to book your trip. Feel free to leave your comments on your dreams/plans for an Antarctic trip or your experiences if you have already visited.
Clicking through the bucket list 