Protecting Antarctic wildlife

Charismatic, iconic, singular – it’s the wildlife of Antarctica that bewitches the public’s reckoning of our gorgeous southern continent. The glistening bow of a minke whale as it parts the glassy waters, the vapour snort of a Weddell seal’s breath, or the raucous palaver and sulphurous stink of a rookery of crested penguins: Antarctica is alive with sights and sounds of burgeoning life. For all the wonder this continent presents, there are still many questions: is our consumption of krill in competition with its whales? What can the seals tell us of changing oceanic conditions? And how will the sea ice-dependent penguins adapt to retreating nesting grounds? With your support we can discover the answers to these questions and more that have not yet been conceived.

Research topics

At the Antarctic Science Foundation we support research into the spectrum of Antarctic life, from cancer-fighting sea slugs to carbon-cycling whales.

Invertebrates & symbioses

Whether on the land or in the sea, Antarctica’s invertebrates hold many secrets. The largest land animal on Antarctica is, in fact, an invertebrate: Belgica antarctica, a wingless midge no longer than this line: ——. Alongside B. antarctica is a variety of soil denizens: nematodes, earthworms, water bears and rotifers. One special animal, Doris k, is a group of sea slugs to whose number an additional 27 species have newly been added by an Antarctic Science Foundation scholar. Analysed in the lab, the toxic secretions of Doris k have been shown to inhibit the growth of some cancers such as leukaemia.

Seabirds

According to the Antarctic Division, Antarctica receives over a 100 million seabirds through spring, who use the continent as breeding grounds. These birds include albatrosses, petrels, skuas, gulls and terns. And while scientists study these animals in their own right – they are also used as models for studying other systems, such as an ecosystem’s response to the addition and eradication of invasive species, or as indicators for the persistence of pollutants such as DDT and PCBs.

Penguins

Penguins are some of Antarctica’s most charming animals. Out of the world’s 18 species, around half live in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic coastlines and islands. Since penguins rely on the interface between sea and land, changes in sea ice extent can have dramatic effects on the foraging parents upon whose access to water and food their chicks – the next generation – rely. While the populations of some species are floundering, others, such as gentoo penguins, are flourishing. ASF researchers examine the population dynamics of a variety of penguin species in the context of sea and land ice changes brought about by human influence.

Seals

Antarctica is home to six species of seals: Ross, Weddell, crabeater, leopard, fur and elephant seals. One research project at The Antarctic Science Foundation has co-opted Antarctica’s heaviest seal – the elephant seal – as a scientist: using its incredible diving capacity (over 2 km!) and a suite of attached gear to discover features of Antarctica’s waters and its sea ice that no human scientist could ever learn.

Whales

Antarctic waters carry the largest animal to have ever lived: the blue whale. Sharing these waters are a variety of other species – the sperm, minke and humpback whales – each magnificent and unique. The Antarctic Science Foundation supports science that quantifies and understands these majestic animals as their populations rebound after the dark era of whaling and into a brighter future, of resources shared and balanced such as krill fisheries.

NEWS | Antarctic wildlife

Featured

Deadly bird flu has arrived in mainland Antarctica, so what are the chances it can reach Australia?

Scientists are concerned about the impact of a deadly strain of bird flu, which has finally reached mainland Antarctica, leaving Australia as the last continent to be conquered. Read more at the ABC

New emperor penguin colonies discovered in Antarctica after guano spotted from space

Emperor penguins are the largest but least prevalent Antarctic penguin species, with scientists estimating a total population of about 600,000. Read more at The Guardian

Vast group of southern fin whales filmed feeding in Antarctica, sparking hope of recovery

Scientists say numbers of world’s second-largest animal have slowly improved since 1970s whaling ban but sightings in Antarctic feeding grounds are rare. Read more on the Guardian

Seals to gather intel on the Southern Ocean

The ACEAS elephant seal tagging team are aboard the icebreaker that departed this week for Macquarie Island. Once the team arrive, they will spend the next few weeks in relative isolation at Bauer Bay, gathering data on the world’s most mysterious ocean—the Southern Ocean—via elephant seals. Read more at ACEAS

As Antarctica’s penguins struggle with record low sea ice, one species is adapting – and it offers lessons to us all

Now, penguin experts say these birds that move like tuxedoed toddlers are showing us the hidden hazards of burning coal and other fossil fuels by the way they march. And as global warming changes the survival-of-the-fittest game at the bottom of the world, one particular species of Antarctic penguin is modelling a poignant lesson for humanity. Read more on CNN

ASF scholars specialised in Antarctic wildlife

Scholar Profile

Dr Sally Lau - Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Sally is interested in the evolutionary genetics of Southern Ocean benthic taxa. The Guardians - First Dog on the Moon even picked up her findings.

Noemie Friscourt

Noemie is interested in understanding the impact of climate changes and human activities on polar food-webs. With a particular interest in using biochemical tracers such as stable isotopes, ice-algae biomarkers, and trace elements.

Paige Maroni

Paige’s PhD studies a marine mollusc's incredible diversification, evolution and chemical ecology using phylogenomics.

Angus Henderson

Angus is developing a coordinated strategy for collection management relevant information for key krill predators, the baleen whales, from tourist ships in the west Antarctic Peninsula.

Cara-Paige Green

Paige’s PhD focused on quantifying the ecological factors underpinning population trends of Eudyptes penguins.

Meghan Aulich

Meghan tracks fin whales and listens to their song to discover where they migrate during different seasons.

Dr Toby Travers

Once eradicated from Macquarie Island, invasive species such as mice and rats are no longer food for brown skuas. How does this affect the lives and breeding of skuas?

Invertebrate

Any animal lacking a backbone, examples in the Antarctic including nudibranchs, octopuses, insects, round and earth worms

Vertebrate

Any animal with a backbone, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals such as ourselves.

Symbioses

Interactions between organisms, living in close proximity, and usually a benefit to both.

Nematode

A worm in the phylum Nematoda, including roundworms.

Rotifer

A microscope aquatic animal also known as a ‘wheel animal’.

Tardigrade

Also known as ‘water bears’, tardigrades are microscope invertebrates closely associated with moss and/or watery environments.

Persistent Organic Pollutants

POPs are toxic chemicals, such as DDT or PCBs, which adversely affect the health of humans and animals and which persist in the environment.

Seabird

A bird that frequents the sea or coast, including gulls, skuas, albatrosses.

Rookery

The nesting areas for penguins to mate and raise their chicks.

Pinniped

Carnivorous aquatic mammal that includes walruses and seals, the latter group containing two main distinctions: ‘true’ seals and sea lions (fur seals).

Cetacean

Aquatic mammal that includes dolphins, whales, porpoises. Whales are generally further divided into ‘toothed’ (sperm and killer) or ‘baleen’ (humpback and blue).