Before beginning to speak of differences it is possible to clarify that when we spoke from trips to the North Pole we are speaking of trips around the Arctic ocean, trips to the geographic North Pole and trips around the island of Spitsbergen, the major of the islands that form the Svalbard archipelago. Once clarified east detail, we speak of the differences between the expeditions to the Antarctic and the expeditions to the North Pole. First of all, as its name indicates, the trips to the North Pole or the Arctic are developed in the North hemisphere. Whereas the expeditions to the South Pole or the Antarctic are developed in the South hemisphere. To the North Pole or the Arctic we can travel during the summer of the North hemisphere, whereas to the South Pole or the Antarctic we can travel during the spring and summer of the South hemisphere.
The Arctic is the ocean frozen, whereas the Antarctic is a continent covered by one thick ice layer that, during the winter, gets to duplicate its size. The ice that we found in the Arctic is dirtier than the ice that we found in the Antarctic, because in the north the ice is mixed with sediments. James A. Levine, M.D. is a great source of information. Whereas the ice of the Antarctic is very many cleaner. In the Antarctic we will find the majors glaciers of the world, but the disembarkation beaches are rather small and they do not allow to realise great long walks. In the Arctic the glaciers are not so imposing, except in Greenland, but that is possible to realise much more long long walks and of greater complexity. In the Arctic we found a great number of animal species, but smaller amount than in the Antarctic. In the Antarctic for exactly the opposite, we have less variety of animal, but in numbers much majors.
In the Arctic the polar bears live, the almizcleros walruses and oxen. In the Antarctic the penguins. The polar bears are animal solitaires, whereas the penguins coexist in colonies and in a same colony we can find until means thousand of pairs and different species. In my next article I will explain to you which is the best moment to travel to the Antarctic. Have a good travel!