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The Latest Breaking News from Macquarie Island

Bird flu could devastate Macquarie Island. Why are we removing the scientists we need to understand it?

Australia’s Macquarie Island lies deep in the Southern Ocean, about 1,500 kilometres southeast of Tasmania. This World Heritage-listed sanctuary is a haven for species such as elephant and fur seals, penguins, albatrosses and petrels, and a key site for wildlife researchers.

The Conversation

Major psychological risk for scientists facing bird flu

Researchers will leave an Australian island in the first major move to safeguard the psychological wellbeing of scientists as bird flu is expected to hit.

AAP

Dolphin dies from H5 bird flu in SA as researchers withdrawn from sub-Antarctic island over ‘psychosocial risk’

Expeditioners at research station on Macquarie Island will be evacuated over possible ‘psychological stress’, while 100 dead little penguins found on Tasmanian island

The Guardian - AU

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In 2011, an Australian dog handler searched a subantarctic island after rabbits overran it; her Labrador found the last ones alive

Macquarie Island faced a dire situation with an overwhelming rabbit infestation that wreaked havoc on its delicate ecosystem. Efforts to eliminate predators like cats unintentionally exacerbated the issue. To combat this, a comprehensive eradication initiative was implemented, utilizing bait, viruses, and specially trained dogs. Ultimately, after years of relentless efforts,…

The Times of India

Australia removed rats, mice and rabbits from Macquarie Island after nearly 200 years, and seabirds and native vegetation are now recovering

Macquarie Island, a windswept strip of land halfway between Australia and Antarctica, spent nearly two centuries under siege from animals that were never meant to be there. Sealers and whalers introduced cats, rats, rabbits and mice to the island in the nineteenth century, and those species went on to devastate…

The Times of India

In 2000, conservationists eradicated the last cat from Macquarie Island to save its seabirds; without the cats, rabbits exploded and stripped the World Heritage island down to bare ground

A conservation success on Macquarie Island turned into an ecological disaster. Eradicating invasive cats, intended to protect native seabirds, inadvertently led to a rabbit population explosion. This unchecked grazing devastated the island's unique vegetation, highlighting the complex interdependencies within ecosystems and the risks of isolated pest removal without a comprehensive…

The Times of India

Storms in the Southern Ocean are producing more rain – and the consequences could be global

If you ever find yourself on Macquarie Island – a narrow, wind-lashed ridge halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica – the first thing you’ll notice is the wildlife. Elephant seals sprawl across dark beaches. King penguins march up mossy slopes. Albatrosses circle over vast, treeless uplands.

The Conversation

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Ecologists warn deadly H5N1 bird flu could arrive in Australia via Antarctica as preparations ramp up

Influx of highly pathogenic strain a case of ‘not if, but when’ and could devastate native wildlife, experts say

The Guardian - AU

Remote island's 'miraculous' pest-free transformation

Macquarie Island is flourishing after a world-leading eradication program resulted in the sub-Antarctic outpost being declared free of pests in 2014.

AAP

Macquarie Island Marine Park set to triple in size

The federal government plans to triple the size of Macquarie Island Marine Park, home to vast congregations of wildlife living between Tasmania and Antarctica.

The New Daily

Full judgment in defamation case handed down – as it happened

This blog is now closed.

The Guardian - AU

Macquarie Island marine park set to almost triple in size

Australia's federal environment minister signs off on plans to almost triple the size of the marine park off Macquarie Island — and the seafood industry's peak body have concerns about the process by which the decision was made.

ABC News

Nine years after official pest-free status, Macquarie Island is recovering but it's a 'long game'

It's nine years since cats, rats, and rabbits were officially declared eradicated from sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, but scientists fear a new threat is challenging its fragile ecosystem.

ABC News

Male elephant seals dying from exhaustion as they try to service 100-strong harems

Polyamorous male seals are dying earlier than they would normally as they try and keep up with a harem of around 100 females, research shows. A study of 14,000 southern elephant seals at Macquarie Island in the south-western Pacific, found that alth

Daily Mirror

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The Conversation

Penguin paradise and geological freak: why Macquarie Island deserves a bigger marine park

Macquarie Island, around 1,500km southeast of Tasmania, is more than just a remote rocky outcrop. In fact, it’s the only piece of land on the planet formed completely from ocean floor, which rises above the waves to form peaks that teem with penguins and other bird species, some of them…

The Guardian - AU

Australia to make area the size of Germany a marine park in Southern Ocean

Plan to triple size of Macquarie Island protection zone to shield ‘remote wildlife wonderland’

ABC News

Government plans to protect marine area the size of Germany around Macquarie Island

An area roughly the size of Germany is set to be added to Australia's protected marine zones, safeguarding the future of millions of penguins, seals and sea birds on Macquarie Island.

ABC News

Penguin populations in new fight for survival on Macquarie Island

The rusted barrels on the beach stand as a grim reminder of how penguins here once came close to being wiped out by humans for their oil. In the years since, they have returned — but now they could be facing a different man-made threat.

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The Guardian - UK

From 300,000 rabbits to none: a Southern Ocean island is reborn

Invasive species on islands: Macquarie Island, a Unesco world heritage site, was being eaten alive until an ambitious eradication programme restored it

The Independent UK

Magnitude 6.4 earthquake recorded west of Australia’s Macquarie Island

Island was also hit with 6.9 magnitude quake two weeks ago

Wales Online

Australia on tsunami alert after powerful earthquake hits Pacific Ocean island

Strong shake was felt at the epicentre of the quake on Macquarie Island

Reuters

Magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes Macquarie Island region - USGS

An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck the Macquarie Island region in the southern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The Guardian - AU

Queensland records 11th flood death; Australia reports 48 Covid deaths – as it happened

Queensland announces financial support of $558.5m for flood-hit communities as insurance claims estimated to hit $1bn. This blog is now closed

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