Flora and fauna of Antarctic Peninsula

Antarctic Peninsula lichens, mosses, and more

Vegetation is scarce on the Antarctic Peninsula, though lichens, algae, and mosses do grow in abundance there. The only flowering plants present on the Antarctic Peninsula are Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort, which can be found along the milder western and northern shores of the peninsula as well as on the nearby islands.

The mammals and seabirds of the Antarctic Peninsula

In the Southern Hemisphere summer, the large ice-free areas of the Antarctic Peninsula’s northwest coasts provide fine breeding grounds for a large number of seabirds. Petrels, skuas, and four species of penguins nest in these locations. On the beaches and ice floes, you can often see fur seals, crabeater seals, leopard seals, and Weddell seals.