The federal government has reversed its decision to cancel surveys of rapidly declining penguin populations in Antarctica and will send more scientists south this summer.
The decision comes after Guardian Australia revealed the Australian Antarctic Division planned to cancel, delay or restrict dozens of science projects, according to a leaked planning document.
The list of restricted science projects, which included studies of record low sea ice, triggered a Senate inquiry into the impact of the division’s need to find $25m of savings in 12 months.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the division said “monitoring and population surveys of penguins and flying seabirds near Mawson station is an additional project that has now been supported for travel this summer”.
This means scientists can now study a severe decline in Adélie penguin numbers 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.
Scientists believe the rapid decline is due to a change in environmental conditions including fast ice, which is attached to the coast of the islands.
The spokesperson said other science climate science projects would be restored, with four extra scientists approved to travel south on the icebreaking research vessel RSV Nuyina.
“This science relates to krill and krill ecosystems, whale acoustic monitoring and Southern Ocean ecosystems,” the spokesperson said.
The internal document revealed a project to help conserve the Antarctic krill population – which help reduce carbon and provide food for the entire ecosystem – was not initially supported due to budget cuts.
Projects still not supported include the Cleaner Antarctic program at Mawson station, which remediates the damage caused by human activity including diesel spills. The document said this cannot be supported “due to budget constraints”.
Last month, Australian and Canadian scientists found pollution at Australia’s largest research station, Casey, has exceeded international guidelines for close to 20 years.
Research that still cannot be supported “due to budget restraints” at Davis station include an “airborne” survey of sea ice thickness and “observations of Antarctic land-fast sea ice”. The “East Antarctic Margin Ice Zone Study” is not supported from Davis, but can continue from Casey.
The impact of budget pressures at the division will be examined by a senate inquiry in early October. Confidential sessions will be available for scientists and public servants who are concerned about publicly criticising the division.
In a submission to the inquiry, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said the budget pressure was largely due to “the known lapsing budget measure to support the commissioning of the RSV Nuyina”. The submission implies the division had committed to projects it could not afford.
Since the list of affected projects was revealed, many scientists have raised concerns. Prof Alexander Babanin and Dr Joey Voermans of the University of Melbourne told the inquiry there was an “urgent” need to understand the impact of the climate crisis in the region.
“It is our view that cuts in research support will have detrimental effects on Australia’s leading expertise in Antarctic and Southern Ocean sciences and will cause gaps in critical observational datasets that function as baselines in climate studies for the next few decades. These gaps are irreversible,” the academics said in a submission.
Dr Stuart Corney, a senior lecturer at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, has told the inquiry that cutting Southern Ocean research would “diminish our international reputation for excellence in science”.
“It is the equivalent of removing the canary from the coalmine as it starts to choke due to a lack of breathable air.”
