It\u2019s winter in Antarctica, when sea ice expands rapidly around the continent peaking in September.<\/p>\n
But satellite observations showed the Bellingshausen Sea \u2013 on the west side of the Antarctic peninsular and which by June would usually be covered by ice \u2013 was almost completely ice free.<\/p>\n
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n Scientists said the region was missing about 650,000 sq kilometres (250,000 sq miles) of sea ice, compared with the average between 1991 and 2020. That is an area about the size of France and almost 10 times the size of Tasmania.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m concerned. It\u2019s depressing,\u201d said Dr Will Hobbs, an Antarctic sea ice expert at the University of Tasmania with the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership.<\/p>\n Antarctic sea ice coverage on 10 June shows a large area in the west of missing ice when compared with the average ice extent between 1981 and 2010, shown by the orange line. Illustration: National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado<\/p>\n \u201cIt is remarkable that we are in June and there is no sea ice there.\u201d<\/p>\n He said this was the third time in four years that sea ice had been very low in the region. \u201cI don\u2019t think we will see sea ice there any more. It\u2019s done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said the loss of sea ice was likely linked to changes in the ocean and scientists were trying to understand if global heating was a factor.<\/p>\n He said the region was important for krill \u2013 a critical part of the food web for species in the region. Krill would usually be hiding from predators under the ice in winter, where they graze on algae.<\/p>\n On 10 June there was about 11.4m square kilometres of sea ice around the entire continent compared to a long-term average for that date of 12.6m sq km.<\/p>\n Dr Phil Reid, who monitors Antarctic conditions at Australia\u2019s Bureau of Meteorology, said the Bellingshausen Sea had seen \u201cincredible coastal exposure\u201d in winter and summer in recent years.<\/p>\n He said just to the area\u2019s west were the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers \u2013 the continent\u2019s major contributors to ice loss and sea level rise<\/a>.<\/p>\n Floating ice shelves in front of the glaciers could break up faster if protective sea ice is absent for longer periods, he said, and this could then speed up the loss of ice from the glaciers, pushing up global sea levels in the future.<\/p>\n Satellite observations show a large area of sea ice in west Antarctica over the Bellingshausen Sea has failed to appear this winter. Deep red indicates at least a 50% loss in sea ice compared with the 1991 to 2020 average. Illustration: Phil Reid\/Bureau of Meteorology\/National Snow and Ice Data Center<\/p>\n The Bellingshausen Sea\u2019s coastline was the site of tragedy in late 2022 when thousands of emperor penguin chicks<\/a> died during a \u201ccatastrophic breeding failure\u201d in four colonies.<\/p>\n
![\"Why](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781281149_105_1920.jpg\")
Why thousands of emperor penguin chicks in Antarctica died in the 2022 breeding season \u2013 video<\/p>\n