The Antarctic and surrounding Southern Ocean is a huge area covering almost 40 percent of your planet's surface. Antarctica itself is 50 times the size of the UK, and it gets even bigger in the winter when sea ice builds up around it.

But despite its size, your people tell me that it has only been a century since humans first set foot on Antarctica. And it was just 180 years ago that people first saw this continent!

Antarctica and the seas around it are home to some amazing animals including whales, hundreds of types of fish, majestic seabirds like the albatross, and penguins. There are also elephant seals. These strange animals can grow over 6 metres long and weigh over 3.5 tons and have a nose like a small trunk.

Much of the marine wildlife in the region depends on a tiny shrimp-like animal called krill, which lives in the sea. An important part of what scientists call the "food chain", krill feed many fish and squid, which in turn feed seals, penguins, and other seabirds.

And some whales in the Southern Oceans need to feed on krill directly: Blue whales – the world's biggest animals – need to eat a whopping 40 million krill a day to survive!

But krill numbers are decreasing due to climate change, and fishing boats are plundering the Antarctic seas. Some of this activity is "pirate fishing" – uncontrolled fishing which is against the law.

What's more, fishing boats are netting more and more krill to feed fish farms in South America and Europe. This is disrupting the whole food chain. And penguins and other wildlife are also under threat from pollution including oil spills.

To protect one of the last wildernesses on the planet, WWF is working in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean to make sure that fishing and other human activities won't harm wildlife. This is one of WWF's newest projects.