Expedition Dates to be Announced

(Contact Imaging Foundation for more info)

Antarctica, the fifth largest continent, is a place of superlatives, extremes and incredible beauty. (To learn more, check out our suggested books).

It is the continent with the highest average altitude (8,200 feet / 2,500 meters), the lowest average precipitation (less than 2 inches per year in the interior), the highest recorded wind speeds (200 mph on Commonwealth Bay) and the lowest recorded temperature on earth (-129° F, recorded at Vostok).

Antarctica is 98% ice -- seven million cubic miles of ice -- comprising 90 percent of the world's total. On average, the ice is one and a half miles thick (7,100 feet / 2,164 meters), and is nearly three miles deep (15,7000 feet / 4,785 meters) at its thickest, in Wilkes Land. This ice contains 70% of the world's fresh water.

In spite of the presence of so much water, in the form of ice, much of Antarctica is considered to be a desert. It is home to only two native vascular plants -- hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and the pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis); both of which occur only along the shore of the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.

It is in the ocean where Antarctica teems with life. Creatures as small as krill and as large as the Blue Whale thrive in the frigid waters. In between these extremes are 35 species of petrels, 200 different kinds of fish, 18 species of penguins, the Southern Elephant Seal and six species of baleen whales.

Below the Antarctic ice, an astonishingly diverse ecosystem is revealed. There are bright orange sea anemones, soft corals and an incredible array of sponges, sea squirts, and forests of purple hydroids. Roaming through this seascape are sea spiders crawling across the rocky bottom.

Average temperatures vary by region. In the interior,the annual average temperature is -58° F (-50°C). During the brief summer, temperatures can reach -22°F (-30°C). In the coastal regions, summer temperatures can reach 48°F (9°C). Coastal winter temperatures range from -40° to -58°F (-40 to -50°C).

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