Before you begin to speak of differences, it should be clarified that when we talk about trips to the North Pole are talking about travel around the Arctic Ocean, trips to the geographical North Pole and trips around the island of Spitsbergen, the largest of the Islands that make up the Svalbard archipelago. Once clarified this detail, let’s talk about the differences between the Antarctic expeditions and expeditions to the North Pole. Firstly, as its name suggests, trips to the North Pole or Arctic are developed in the northern hemisphere. While the expeditions to the South Pole or Antarctica are developed in the southern hemisphere. To the North Pole or Arctic we can travel during the summer in the northern hemisphere, while to the South Pole or Antarctica we can travel during the spring and summer in the southern hemisphere. The Arctic is an icy Ocean, while Antarctica is a continent covered by a thick layer of ice which, during the winter, comes to double its size. The ice found in the Arctic is more dirty than ice found in Antarctica, because the ice is in the North mixed with sediment.
While the ice of Antarctica is much cleaner. In Antarctica, we find the largest glaciers in the world, but landing beaches are rather small and not allow great walks. The Arctic glaciers are not so impressive, except in Greenland, but it is possible to hike much longer and more complex. In the Arctic, we find a large number of animal species, but in smaller quantities than in Antarctica. In Antarctica for exactly the opposite, we have less variety of animals, but in much larger numbers. Polar bears, walrus and muskoxen live in the Arctic.
Antarctic penguins. Polar bears are solitary animals, while the penguins live in colonies and in the same colony can be found up to half a thousand of couples and different species. In my next article I will explain what is the best time to travel to Antarctica. Good trip! Original author and source of the article.
