Antarctic Peninsula-december 2012

I had the great privilege to visit the Antartic peninsula in december 2012.Human eyes did not see Antarctica until 1820 ,yet it had been known to exist since the time of Aristotle and survived in our imagination for over 2000yrs.
The Antarctic peninsula is the northward extension of the polar continent about 1000 miles off the southernmost tips of Chile and Argentina. It includes both the landmass of the actual continent of Antarctica, numerous islands, and the ice sheets that extend and connect many of these bodies of land.The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest single mass of ice on earth .it covers an area of almost 14million square km.Around 90% of the fresh water on the earth’s surface is held in the ice sheet.Australia has control over 42% Antarctica partly due to endeavours of SIr Douglas Mawson[1882-1958 ]whose tragic expedition in 1912 ended with the death of his 2 colleagues .He survived after pulling his sled alone, for 30 days, arriving at main base on 1st february 2013.
It was an amazing experience to be in the endless fields of ice-the white continent but teeming with life,The penguins and seals and the home of the cornerstone of life-plankton and krill ,the food of the mighty whales.All the photographs were taken during our 10day trip in december2012.