Matthiessen chronicles two voyages into the frozen seas that surround a landmass larger than the continental United States. He discusses everything from global warming and the ozon layer to the role of krill, the teeming crustacean that is the cornerstone of the marine food chain. Nature lovers will be fascinated by descriptions of more than half of the penguin species and an array of seabirds, whales, leopard seals ans elephant seals. There are also descriptions of the seldom seen polar rookeries where thousands of emperor penguins stand motionless for months at a time, brooding their giant eggs through the long, cold Antarctic winter. With bibliography and index.