Difference between revisions of "Template:POTD protected"

From Encyclopedia Westarctica
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(143 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{| role="presentation" style="margin:0 3px 3px; width:100%; text-align:left; background-color:transparent; border-collapse: collapse; "
{| role="presentation" style="margin:0 3px 3px; width:100%; text-align:left; background-color:transparent; border-collapse: collapse; "
|style="padding:0 0.9em 0 0;" | [[File:Admunsen-Pole.jpg|300px]]
|style="padding:0 0.9em 0 0;" | [[File:Brown Suka eating chick.jpg|300px|thumb]]
|style="padding:0 6px 0 0"|
|style="padding:0 6px 0 0"|


The '''[[South Pole]]''', also known as the '''Geographic South Pole''' or '''Terrestrial South Pole''', is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies in [[Antarctica]] on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole.  The South Pole is both the southernmost and easternmost point of [[Westarctica]].
The '''[[Brown Skua]]''' is a large seabird that breeds in the subantarctic and [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] zones and moves further north when not breeding.


The first men to reach the Geographic South Pole were the Norwegian [[Roald Amundsen]] and his party on December 14, 1911. Amundsen named his camp Polheim and the entire plateau surrounding the Pole King Haakon VII Vidde in honor of King Haakon VII of Norway. [[Robert Falcon Scott]] returned to Antarctica with his second expedition, the Terra Nova Expedition, initially unaware of Amundsen's secretive expedition. Scott and four other men reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912, thirty-four days after Amundsen. On the return trip, Scott and his four companions all died of starvation and extreme cold.
Brown skuas are masters of piracy, they often feed by stealing partially digested fish from the the beaks of other birds. Their victims are typically terns or [[penguin]]s, though other fish-eating species are also pursued until they disgorge their catches. The fact that skuas are swift and agile fliers (and that they sometimes gang up on a single victim) aid in their success rate. This is the heaviest species of skua and rivals even the largest gulls as the heaviest species in the shorebird order although not as large in length or wingspan.  


<p><small>Photographer: Olav Bjaaland </small></p>
<p><small>Photographer: Jenny Varley</small></p>
[[:Category:Images|'''(More Featured Images)''']]
[[:Category:Images|'''(More Images)''']]
<div class="potd-recent" style="text-align:right;">
<div class="potd-recent" style="text-align:right;">

Latest revision as of 14:07, 16 April 2024

Brown Suka eating chick.jpg

The Brown Skua is a large seabird that breeds in the subantarctic and Antarctic zones and moves further north when not breeding.

Brown skuas are masters of piracy, they often feed by stealing partially digested fish from the the beaks of other birds. Their victims are typically terns or penguins, though other fish-eating species are also pursued until they disgorge their catches. The fact that skuas are swift and agile fliers (and that they sometimes gang up on a single victim) aid in their success rate. This is the heaviest species of skua and rivals even the largest gulls as the heaviest species in the shorebird order although not as large in length or wingspan.

Photographer: Jenny Varley

(More Images)