1. About 200 million years ago, Antarctica was joined with Australia, Africa, South America, India, and New Zealand in the giant continent Gondwana. The continent gradually separated and about 40 million years ago, Antarctica made its final detachment from Australia. 2.The Antarctic ice sheet has an area of about 8.32 million sq. miles (which is 1.4 times the size of the US!) and the average thickness of the ice sheet is 1.60 miles. 3. Unlike any other continent, Antarctica was assumed to exist long before it was discovered. One of the world's great explorers, James Cook, made the first circumnavigation of the continent in 1772-73 - without finding the continent itself. 4. For the past 200 years numerous expeditions have set sail for Antarctica. One of the most famous Antarctic histories is probably Scott's Terra Nova expedition, which made it to the South Pole on January 17, 1912, just to discover that Amundsen had beaten them by 35 days. 5. Another famous Antarctic explorer story is the one of Shackleton whose ship, Endurance, was lost in the ice in 1915. Shackleton and his men lived on the pack ice for five months before a small group of them sailed more than 800 miles across open sea to South Georgia to get help for the remaining stranded men on Elephant Island. Not one man was lost on this remarkable expedition. 6. No one owns Antarctica, but a number of countries have made territorial claims and established research stations. The continent is governed by the Antarctic Treaty - a landmark agreement through which the countries active in Antarctica discuss the uses of the entire continent. The Antarctic Treaty consider Antarctica a natural reserve and a land devoted to peace and science. 7. On a trip to Antarctica you are likely to encounter one or more of the 8 whale species found in the Southern Ocean. The minke whale is by far the most abundant baleen whale here. Because of its relatively small size it was fortunate enough to have escaped the slaughtering by whalers in the first half of the 20th century. 8. The southern elephant seal is the world's largest seal. The male's average weight is 3.5 tons and they reach up to 16 feet in length. The elephant seal feeds primarily on squid caught during long (up to two hours) and deep (up to 1.3 miles) dives. 9. There are 17 penguin species in the world. The Adelie penguin is the archetypical penguin - with its purely black and white coloring. There are about 2.5 million breeding pairs on the continent. The Adelie is the third most abundant Antarctic/subantarctic penguin - after the chinstrap (4 million pairs) and the macaroni (11.8 million pairs). 10. The wandering albatross is probably one of the most impressive birds in the world. Its almost 12-foot wingspan makes it a fabulous glider through the air. You will rarely see an albatross flap its wings - instead it uses wind currents to stay airborne. The name wandering albatross is very suitable for a bird that covers thousands of miles on a single trip. Young birds may not return to land for five years or more - staying at sea the entire time. 11. The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on earth. Commercial whaling severely reduced the number of the species and the blue whale became fully protected in 1965. Unfortunately, recovery has been slow and the current population of the blue whale is estimated to be only a couple of thousand. 12. The roughly two-inch-long Antarctic krill is the continent's most important food resource for a large number of seabirds (including penguins), squid, fish, seals, and whales. Without krill, the ecosystem in Antarctica would fall apart. Fortunately, krill is difficult to process for human consumption, and fishing krill for the consumer industry is therefore not a threat. 13. Because of its polar location, high elevation, and permanent ice cover, Antarctica is synonymous with cold. Mean temperatures on the coasts range from -15 to -32 degrees Celsius in the winter and +5 to -5 degrees Celsius in the summer. The Antarctic Peninsula has the highest temperatures year-round. In 1983 the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth - minus 89.6 degrees Celsius - was reported from the Russian Vostock station in Antarctica. 14. The highest point in Antarctica is Vinson Massif at 16,860 feet. Vinson Massif is the sixth highest of the world's seven summits, and was first summitted on December 18, 1966, by a US expedition led by Nicholas B Clinch. 15. Most sailing expeditions to Antarctica will go from the very southern tip of South America to the Antarctic Peninsula, since this is the shortest crossing to the continent. With hundreds of small islands, the Peninsula is one of Antarctica's prime breeding grounds for birds, penguins, and seals (another reason why the Peninsula is a favorite destination for visitors to the continent). Interested in more facts about Antarctica? There is an array of excellent books on Antarctica. We recommend Longitude books For more information and reservations, please contact: Mountain Travel Sobek 1266 66th Street, Suite 4 Emeryville, CA 94608 USA Toll Free (USA and Canada): 1-888-831-7526 Phone: +1-510-594-6000 Fax: + 1-510-594-6001 Email: info@mtsobek.com