Australian scientists observe ‘rapid’ decline in Adélie penguin numbers off Antarctic coast

Australian scientists observe ‘rapid’ decline in Adélie penguin numbers off Antarctic coast

Scientists at the Australian Antarctic Division have recorded a severe decline in a population of Adélie penguins off the east Antarctic coast. Long-term monitoring has revealed a 43% drop over a decade in the number of birds that breed across 52 islands near the Mawson research station. The scientists say the decline is a stark […]

Read More

Antarctic researchers gain insights from on high as they count seals from space

Antarctic researchers gain insights from on high as they count seals from space

Researchers believe they have accurately estimated Antarctica’s Weddell seal population for the first time – using images from space and the eyes of hundreds of thousands of citizen scientists. Weddell seals are a key indicator species in the Southern Ocean, for both sea ice fluctuations and shifts in the food web. They can live up […]

Read More

As climate change melts Antarctic ice, gentoo penguins venture further south

As climate change melts Antarctic ice, gentoo penguins venture further south

The crew of the M/V Arctic Sunrise, an icebreaker vessel owned by Greenpeace, were sailing through Antarctica’s Weddell Sea this month when they saw something they didn’t expect. “One of the scientists on board, Alex Borowicz … was looking through the binoculars from the bridge of our ship,” Louisa Casson, an ocean campaigner with Greenpeace […]

Read More

‘Super rare’: Antarctic penguin washes up in New Zealand, 3,000km from home

‘Super rare’: Antarctic penguin washes up in New Zealand, 3,000km from home

An Antarctic penguin has traversed 3,000km of icy waters to find himself far from home and on new and puzzling shores: the south-eastern coastline of New Zealand. The Adélie penguin in question, affectionately named “Pingu” by locals, was spotted looking somewhat lost at Birdlings Flat, a small settlement on New Zealand’s South Island. It’s only […]

Read More

POLL: Should Australia be allowed to construct a new airport and runway in Antarctica?

POLL: Should Australia be allowed to construct a new airport and runway in Antarctica?

Australia is planning to build Antarctica’s biggest infrastructure project: a new airport and runway that would increase the human footprint in the world’s greatest wilderness by an estimated 40%. The mega-scheme is likely to involve blasting petrel rookeries, disturbing penguin colonies and encasing a stretch of the wilderness in more than 115,000 tonnes of concrete. […]

Read More