Please note that final assignment is subject to the student qualifying for FWS Placement. If a student is allowed to work without having a FWS Referral Form signed by all parties and on file in this office, your department will be responsible for compensating the student.
Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland. Only cold-adapted organisms survive there, including many types of algae, animals (for example mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades), bacteria, fungi, plants, and protista.
At both poles, tiny animals, called zooplankton, are near the base of the food chain. They eat the photosynthesizing phytoplankton and in turn are food for fish, seabirds and marine mammals. In the Southern Ocean, Antarctic krill swim in dense schools of 20,000 animals per cubic yard (540,000 cubic feet).