The Southern Ocean

Icy and mysterious, the Southern Ocean stretches across the bottom of the Earth, surrounding the continent of Antarctica. With its freezing waters, harsh winds and towering waves, until recently only the bravest explorers sailed its stormy seas. Today, tourists flock to see the ocean's unique wildlife of penguins, seabirds and blue whales. But along with human visitors come human-made problems, including global warming, pollution and overfishing.