Difference between revisions of "Template:POTD protected"

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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 '''[[southern elephant seal]]''' is one of the two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season.


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.
The world population was estimated at 650,000 animals in the mid-1990s, and was estimated in 2005 at between 664,000 and 740,000 animals. Studies have shown the existence of three geographic subpopulations, one in each of the three oceans. Tracking studies have indicated the routes traveled by elephant seals, demonstrating their main feeding area is at the edge of the Antarctic continent. While elephant seals may come ashore in [[Antarctica]] occasionally to rest or to mate, they gather to breed in subantarctic locations.


<p><small>Photographer: Olav Bjaaland </small></p>
<p><small>Photographer: Liam Quinn</small></p>
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