Hello! My name is Mensun Bound, and I am the Director of Exploration for the Endurance22 Expedition. I was born and raised on the Falkland Islands, a cluster of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean about 300 miles east of the southern tip of South America. If you find the Falkland Islands on a map, you will see why I grew up with a strong interest in Antarctica… we were neighbors! I am a marine archeologist by training, but I also have learned a lot about the unique wildlife of Antarctica over the course of my many visits to the continent. I’m excited to preview some of the incredible living creatures that the Endurance22 Expedition team expects to encounter in and around the Weddell Sea, starting with the famous penguins!
Remember that Antarctica is a huge continent at the so-called bottom of the world. It is a land of ice and snow that is also home to the South Pole. It is a place of constant light in summer and constant darkness in winter. There are incredibly strong winds and furious blizzards that have combined to create the lowest recorded temperature on earth: - 89⁰ degrees Celsius/-128 degrees Fahrenheit! It is hard to think of anywhere more hostile to life–and yet it is there.
Before we look at penguins, let’s be clear about one thing – there are no polar bears on the continent of Antarctica, nor in the wider regions, which we call the Antarctic.
