Elephant Island Antarctica
Antarctica is one of the strangest environments on Earth. It’s by far the coldest and the driest continent, and it’s also the windiest.
Oddly enough, Antarctica is technically considered a desert because of its low rainfall. But if you know anything about Antarctica, you know that it’s not what you’d think of when you think of a desert. The entire continent (actually about 98% of it) is covered in ice. The main body of land is very large, and there are several surrounding islands. Elephant Island Antarctica is one of the many islands in the area, and it’s quite an interesting place.
Antarctica’s Geography
Like most of the land around this area, Elephant Island Antarctica is almost completely covered in ice. Located in the Southern Ocean, Elephant Island got its name from explorers who spotted Elephant seals on the shore before they ever landed. The island is very mountainous, and is home to the Endurance Glacier, which is the main discharge glacier on the island. The island’s harsh mountainous terrain makes it an unwelcoming place for animals and plant life, so you won’t see much activity on Elephant Island Antarctica. The only animals you’re likely to see on Elephant Island are Gentoo penguins and seals, and Chinstrap penguins, but only in the right season. Elephant Island got its name from Captain George Powell who spotted Elephant seals there in 1821. However, historians also attribute the name to the shape of the island, which many say is shaped like an elephant’s head.
Antarctica’s History
Elephant Island Antarctica, though unpopulated for the most part, has been host to several amazing and important events. The most famous event, which put Elephant Island on the map so to speak, was the Endurance Expedition. The Endurance Expedition took place in 1916, when The Endurance, a Norwegian ship headed for Antarctica, was shipwrecked near Elephant Island. The men of the boat, 28 in number, knowing that staying still would kill them, they established a temporary camp at Point Wild. Because of the location of Point Wild on Elephant Island Antarctica, the captain knew that rescue from passing ships was unlikely if not impossible. Shackleton knew that traveling to South Georgia, where there was a whaling station, would be their best bet. So, Shackleton, along with 5 of his closest men, set out on an epic journey. Using the only method of transportation they had, a small open lifeboat named the James Caird, they traveled more than 800 miles to find help from Elephant Island Antarctica to South Georgia. While the small rescue party went out to explore, the rest of the men stayed aboard The Endurance and in their camp. They survived for more than 4 months, eating only what they could hunt – which was very slim as it was fall/winter. Eventually, Shackleton came back with a borrowed tug boat and saved his men. It was a truly amazing chain of events, considering that most people couldn’t survive a few weeks at Elephant Island Antarctica, let alone 4 months!
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