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[[File:Whitmore Mountains - Mt Chapman.jpg|thumb|300px|left]]
[[File:Crabeater Pléneau Bay.jpg|250px|left]]
The '''[[Whitmore Mountains]]''' are an isolated mountain range of the Transantarctic Mountains System, located in the [[Marie Byrd Land]] region of [[Westarctica]]. They consist of three small mountains and a cluster of [[nunatak]]s arranged in a semicircular pattern extending over 15 miles. The group was visited and surveyed on January 2, 1959, by William H. Chapman, cartographer with the [[Horlick Mountains]] Traverse Party.
The '''[[crabeater seal]]''' is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of [[Antarctica]]. They are found primarily on the free-floating [[pack ice]] that extends seasonally out from the Antarctic coast, which they use as a platform for resting, mating, social aggregation and accessing their prey. They are by far the most abundant seal species in the world. While population estimates are uncertain, there are at least 7 million and possibly as many as 75 million individuals. This success of this species is due to its specialized predation on the abundant [[Antarctic krill]] of the [[Southern Ocean]], for which it has uniquely adapted, sieve-like tooth structure.


The mountains were named by Chapman for George D. Whitmore, Chief Topographic Engineer of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), who was a member of the Working Group on Cartography of the Scientific Committee on [[Antarctic]] Research.
Despite its name, crabeater seals do not eat crabs. As well as being an important [[krill]] predator, the crabeater seal is an important component of the diet of [[leopard seal|leopard seals]], which consume about 80% of all crabeater pups.


The title [[Viscount of Whitmore]] was the first title created in the [[Peerage of Westarctica]] in 2001.
'''([[crabeater seal|Full Article...]])'''
 
'''([[Whitmore Mountains|Full Article...]])'''

Latest revision as of 13:37, 19 March 2026

Crabeater Pléneau Bay.jpg

The crabeater seal is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of Antarctica. They are found primarily on the free-floating pack ice that extends seasonally out from the Antarctic coast, which they use as a platform for resting, mating, social aggregation and accessing their prey. They are by far the most abundant seal species in the world. While population estimates are uncertain, there are at least 7 million and possibly as many as 75 million individuals. This success of this species is due to its specialized predation on the abundant Antarctic krill of the Southern Ocean, for which it has uniquely adapted, sieve-like tooth structure.

Despite its name, crabeater seals do not eat crabs. As well as being an important krill predator, the crabeater seal is an important component of the diet of leopard seals, which consume about 80% of all crabeater pups.

(Full Article...)