Australian Researchers Head to Heard Island
This year, the Australian Antarctic Division will lead expeditioners and scientists working with the Australian Antarctic Program on two voyages to Heard Island and McDonald Islands.
Heard Island is a land of fire and ice, home to Australia’s only active volcano, with 12 major glaciers carving through the landscape and penguin and seal colonies dotting the coastline.
With the nearby McDonald Islands, they are one of Australia’s most remote territories, located in the southern Indian Ocean, 4,000km south-west of the Australian mainland.
The campaign, using Australia's icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, will be the Australian Antarctic Program's first visit to Heard Island in more than 20 years and will check on the state of the islands’ unique flora and fauna.
“HIMI illustrates some of the most undisturbed and dynamic ecosystems in the world,” Protected Areas and Species Director Annette Dunkley said. “This means natural processes like evolution, volcanic activity and glaciation have been happening with almost no human interaction or disturbance. As an external territory of Australia, it is our responsibility to understand and protect this very special area.”
The visit is also an opportunity to conduct critical terrestrial and marine science.
“Some of our priorities include understanding the current status of threatened seabirds and seals and conducting surveys of marine ecosystems to inform fisheries management,” Project Lead Dr Aleks Terauds said. “We will also be mapping the bathymetry around the islands and conducting climate science to better understand glacial retreat.”
In January, Australia significantly expanded the marine reserve, placing almost 90% of the exclusive economic zone around the islands under protection.