VIDEO

VIDEO

Penguins of the South Sandwich Islands

Penguins of the South Sandwich Islands

Five million years ago, tectonic forces formed what are now known as the South Sandwich Islands. Over time, geologic changes have transformed the waters of the South Atlantic to accommodate one of the largest penguin colonies in the world.

Grades

K - 12

Subjects

Geography

Share on Twitter
Share on Facebook
Share on Pinterest
Share on Google Classroom
Share on MS Teams
Share via email
Print

Transcript (English)

- [Narrator] The South Sandwich Islands are a chain of volcanoes that rose up 5 million years ago. Today, hot sulfurous gases still pour from the bare and inhospitable terrain. The island looks bleak, but there is life here, lots of it.

Three million chinstrap penguins come to this volcano every year to breed. It is one of the largest penguin colonies in the world. And it is just one of hundreds of colonies in the Southern Ocean. These penguins prosper because of a huge geological upheaval, which transformed the waters of the South Atlantic. 40 million years ago, South America and Antarctica drifted apart, allowing the world's most powerful ocean current to encircle the south of our planet. The Antarctic circumpolar current stirs up nutrients from the sea floor and enriches the southern seas.

Transcripción (Español)

- [Narrador] Las Islas Sandwich del Sur son una cadena de volcanes que surgieron hace 5 millones de años. Hoy en día, gases sulfurosos calientes todavía emanan del terreno desnudo e inhóspito. La isla parece desolada, pero hay vida aquí, mucha.

3 millones de pingüinos de barbijo vienen a este volcán cada año para reproducirse. Es una de las colonias de pingüinos más grandes del mundo. Y es solo una de cientos de colonias en el Océano Austral. Estos pingüinos prosperan gracias a un enorme levantamiento geológico, que transformó las aguas del Atlántico Sur. Hace 40 millones de años, Sudamérica y la Antártida se separaron, permitiendo que la corriente oceánica más poderosa del mundo rodeara el sur de nuestro planeta. La corriente circumpolar antártica agita nutrientes del fondo marino y enriquece los mares del sur.

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Last Updated

May 22, 2025

For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

Media

If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

Text

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.

Related Resources