Page 21 - Dispatches - Winter 2022

4 Animals You Might Call of the Wild

Meet in the Arctic By Katina Ahling

Katina is an O.A.T.
staff writer and former
expat. She has lived in
ost travelers who embark on our New! Arctic Expedition: Untamed Norway & Svalbard northern Italy, western
adventure have their heart set on seeing the star attraction of the Arctic: polar bears. But Germany, and central
Mthose who journey to this seemingly barren region are almost always taken aback by just Taiwan.
how much life thrives there. Here are four animals to keep an eye out for on your Arctic adventure:

Svalbard reindeer Arctic fox
Conservation status: Least concern Conservation status:
• There are Least concern Svalbard, a Journey
about 10,000 • Artic fox fur is to the Top of the
Svalbard considered the Earth
reindeer warmest pelt of any
in the wild animal found in the region, holding up against
today. temperatures as low as -94° F.
• Reindeer are • These solitary creatures seek shelter in
a migratory burrows and tunnels, which provide safety
species, from blizzards.
traveling over 3,000 miles per year—more • Arctic foxes are only about as big as a large
than any other land mammal. domestic cat, with their tails accounting for Witness the icy
• Svalbard reindeer are the smallest subspecies nearly 35% of their length. wonderland of
the Arctic, from
of reindeer, with males ranging in weight crystalline icebergs
from 143 pounds to 200 pounds. to the animal species
Beluga whales that call it home.
Conservation status: Near threatened
Brünnich’s guillemots • Belugas are one of the smallest species of Watch Film

Conservation status: Least concern whale, measuring on average between 13 and
• Brünnich 20 feet long.
Guillemots are • The word beluga
expert divers, is derived from
reaching depths the Russian word
of nearly 500 feet “bielo,” meaning
and remaining white. However,
underwater for these white whales
about 4 minutes are born dark gray, Seek out these
per dive. Scientists are still theorizing how this and it takes years for species and more
is possible. their color to evolve. on our New!
Arctic Expedition:
• Guillemots are the most populous birds in the • Belugas are able to swim backwards, and their Untamed Norway &
northern hemisphere, but they also claim the neck has also adapted to allow up, down, and
smallest individual territory of any bird: less side-to-side movement. Svalbard Small Ship
than 2 feet per bird’s nesting space. Adventure.
• They often venture far from their homes for Learn More
food, even as far as 62 miles away.

DISPATCHES • WINTER

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