There is no accountability in interpreting that penguins are found at the North Pole. The misassumption is because of the myth based on some fiction. Mainly, children consider penguins live in the Arctic with polar bears since they ought to believe for the reason that they see it in some cartoons and movies.
In reality, penguins cannot live at the North Pole. There are many reasons why penguins don’t live at the North Pole. In this article, we will come to know the reasons why.
A beautiful but a false picture as both penguins and polar bear being in the same icy place
Why Is the North Pole Not a Place for Penguins?
No matter, the Antarctic, and the Arctic are both icy regions surrounded by a pole. But both are far different places with their unique characteristics.
The maximum of the Arctic is covered with sea ice and connected to the terrestrial multitudes.
Whereas, the Antarctic is centered on the South Pole with the land surrounding the icy sea.
The biological circumstances of penguins are as simple as a warning. Penguins are birds but they are flightless and heavy on the land. For a reason, they are vulnerable to predators when they nest and lay eggs. In the Antarctic, there are very few predators like a seal or sometimes the giant sea wave.
But, in the Arctic, there is a lot more threat by predators like bears, foxes and more.
Nature has set the beautiful creature in a perfect region where they can make their living with less threat from predators. But unfortunately not from global warming!
Climatic Facts in the North Pole:
In the North Pole, the ice is about 2-3 meters (6-10 feet) thick. The gravity of the ocean at the North Pole is greater than 4,000 meters (13,123 feet). The North Pole is in the middle of the Arctic Ocean and it is always covered with ice. Since they are in the middle of the ocean and lower in the sea level the Arctic is warmer than the Antarctic.
During summer the temperature is 0 degree Celsius i.e. 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The North Pole faces one sunrise and one sunset in every year. This means, the North Pole region experiences 24 hours of sunlight in the summer and 24 hours of darkness in the winter.
The Arctic region has a wide range of mountains, rolling hills, plains and the ice formed is by the frozen sea. The multi-layer ice measures about 3-4m thick.
To establish a study or research in the North Pole is a greater cost involving and difficult for the researches because of its drifting ice location.
Animals that Are Habitat in the North Pole Environment:
Polar bears live in the Arctic near the North Pole. Along with the polar bears, we may find terrestrial animals like foxes and wolves. The polar bears, foxes, and wolves occasionally migrate from the Arctic to the North Pole, because of the drifting ice they are unable to make dwellings in that region. At times polar bears walk to the North Pole area in search of food.
The fish varieties include tiny crustaceans, shrimp and plant variety such as anemones.
Possibilities of Optical Illusion to Assume Some Birds as Penguins:
Some of the visitors to the Arctic mistakenly assume by looking certain birds sitting on the iceberg as penguins. Those little birds might be a little auk, puffins, razorbills or guillemots. Their resemblance to the color of the blackhead and white front makes people think of it as penguins.
Auks sitting on the icy sea being the perfect example of optical illusion as penguins
We have to remember the fact that the auk or alcid species may look like penguins but they are birds that can fly, unlike penguins. Thus there are no penguins in the North Pole.
The visuals are the main contribution to the confusion in the minds of people when it comes to the penguins’ habitation in the Arctic.
Great Auk and the Penguins:
The great auk is an extinct flightless bird similar to the penguins. Some often have the question of whether the great auk is found in the North Pole. We have to be clear that there is no great auk in the world. They were extinct in the year 1844. Penguins that are most commonly found are the King penguins. Below are certain differences between the great auk and the penguins.
Great auk:
- They belong to the order Charadriiformes
- Family Alcidae
- Name Pinguinus impennis
- Has long neck
- Less delightful looks
- Less alluring walks
King penguins:
- They belong to the order Sphenisciformes
- Family Spheniscidae
- Name Aptenodytes patagonicus
- Has short neck
- Charming looks
- Walks like dancing
Apart from the differences, the great auk and the king penguins share similarities like the kingdom, phylum, and class.
- Kingdom- Animalia
- Phylum- Chordata
- Class- Aves
A sketch of the great auk
So, there are no great auks in the Arctic and also in the realm. We can bid goodbye to this mix-up anymore.
Along with this discussion let us also know about the people living around the Arctic and Antarctic.
People Living in the Arctic:
The human inhabitant around the Arctic is a clear fact. People who live in the far north are nomadic hunters and Sami people of Scandinavia. The greatest land occupation in the south led to the influence of people in the far north.
There are many villages, cities and small towns around the Arctic. The people inhabited several thousand years before.
People Living in the Antarctic:
Antarctica has never had a history of people living there and we could ever find any native of Antarctica. But, there were few scientific stations set for research and people lived for the purpose for a year or hardly two.
Researchers taking photographs of the spectacular penguins in the Antarctic
All over Antarctica, there were a few thousand people visiting the scientific stations in the summer and a few less number of thousand people visiting in the winter.
So the people around the Arctic have not found any penguins as it is found in the Antarctic by the temporary visitors.
The Test of Transferring Penguins to the Arctic:
There were a few instances that made the researchers test whether the penguins can withstand the environmental impact of the Arctic. All the experiments ended in mere dismay.
Conclusion:
So now everyone who read through this page, be free from confusion regarding penguins living in the North Pole. Only polar bears, wolves, foxes, lemmings, and other such mammals live in the Arctic near the North Pole and penguins live in Antarctica and its bordering continents near the South Pole.
The facts to get cleared with answers are indeed interesting. I hope you got the answer to the factual discussion that happened one day with your friends or family where you left the space filled with introverted smiles.
References:
Could Penguins Thrive at the North Pole?
Could penguins and polar bears swap habitats?
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150902-the-truth-about-polar-bears
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole
Image source:
- A beautiful but a false picture as both penguins and polar bear being in the same icy place by DigitalDesigner / Pixabay License