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.
Some scientists have estimated that the krill in the ocean around Antarctica weigh more than the entire worldâs human population. The krill, rich in protein and fat, are food for large numbers of animals at the top of the food chain, including penguins, seals, and whales. Scientists studying the Antarctic marine ecosystem now know that its high productivity is confined to the edge of the sea ice and a few other areas, rather than everywhere in the Southern Ocean.