Could polar bears survive in the south pole, and could penguins survive in the north pole?
Probably the answer is no. The Antarctic is a frozen continent while the Arctic is a frozen ocean. Two species of penguin the emperor and the Adelie breed in Antarctica. Although they do so on the pack ice around the continent, the ice is thick and doesn’t break up the way it does in the Arctic. Probably the sea ice in the Arctic would be too unstable and it would be impossible to select a good breeding site. For polar bears the breaking sea ice is essential for survival, it is where their main prey, seals, make their breathing holes and polar bears hunt by waiting for the seals to surface at these holes. Although Antarctic seals such as the Weddell seal do make breathing holes in the ice, the more stable sea ice around Antarctica would probably be much more difficult for bears to hunt on than the breaking ice floes of the Arctic. Futhermore, for those trapped inland at any time, it would be disaster, nothing else lives there during the summer and bears would starve.
