Antarctica, Home Of The World’s Cutest Thing. These Photos From A Glacier Will Warm Your Heart

Antarctica. We usually think of it as a cold and remote region where most human beings would never tread. But for those who dare, Antarctica holds a wealth of beauty — and cuteness.

That’s what one photographer found out recently. While on an expedition with the environmental education organization 2041, he was taking beautiful shots of glacial ice formations, such as this one, which he posted to the popular internet forum Reddit and headlined, “What a piece of 10,000 year old glacial ice looks like.”

He calculated that the ice was 10,000 years old because that’s how long it takes for all of the air to be forced out of glacial ice, leaving it clear, like crystal, rather than white like most glacial ice, such as the iceberg in the background.

But that’s not why we’re here. So let’s get to the cute attack.

When the shutterbug was in Neko Harbor — the most visited area of Antarctica, with 30,000 tourists arriving mostly by cruise ship every tear — he was taking more pictures of glacial ice formations when one of the local residents got curious and waddled over to see what he was doing.

These pictures document what happened next.

The locals in Antarctica are a curious bunch. They like to know what their visitors are up to. But in the end…

…they’re happy to let you get on with whatever you’re doing, while they go on their merry way.

Live and let live. That’s their motto down there in Antarctica.

The organization 2041 takes its name, by the way, from the year that a current international treaty banning mining and drilling on the Antarctica continent expires, and when the last great unspoiled wilderness on the planet risks being unspoiled no longer.