{"id":201805,"date":"2025-12-25T21:49:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T21:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/201805\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T21:49:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T21:49:10","slug":"scientists-on-high-alert-as-bird-flu-threat-looms-over-australian-antarctic-territory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/201805\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists on ‘high alert’ as bird flu threat looms over Australian Antarctic Territory"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Berkley Island in East Antarctica, hordes of Ad\u00e9lie penguins are nesting on a rocky outcrop surrounded by broken sea ice.<\/p>\n

As they waddle and squabble among themselves, Weddell seals slumber nearby, while a lone skua soars in the sky above.<\/p>\n

\"Penguins<\/p>\n

The H5 bird flu stain has not yet reached the Australian Antarctic Territory. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Weddell seals are having a slumber nearby. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

\"Penguins<\/p>\n

Scientists inspect the penguins from the air to ensure there are no signs of bird flu, such as high rates of mortality. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

It’s a classic Antarctic scene, replicated across the continent’s coastline.<\/p>\n

But scientists are concerned about a threat looming on the horizon \u2014 the deadly H5 strain of bird flu.<\/p>\n

“We know that this is a really contagious virus that can spread, but it can be absolutely dramatic and wipe out populations,” bird ecologist Louise Emmerson said.<\/p>\n

\"Seabird<\/p>\n

Louise Emmerson says so far there has been no trace of bird flu in the Australian Antarctic Territory. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

Over recent years, avian influenza has made its way across many parts of the world<\/a>, causing mass mortality among mammals and birds, including Ad\u00e9lie penguins.<\/p>\n

After ripping through South America, the virus reached the Antarctic Peninsula, on the western side of the icy continent, two years ago.<\/p>\n

And two months ago, it was detected on the Australian external territory of Heard Island<\/a> in the Southern Ocean, where hundreds of dead elephant seals were found.<\/p>\n

\"Elephant<\/p>\n

In October, hundreds of dead elephant seals were found on Heard Island, in the Southern Ocean. (Supplied: Julie McInnes)<\/p>\n

But so far, there has been no trace of bird flu in the Australian Antarctic Territory, a vast region on the eastern side of the continent.<\/p>\n

“We haven’t found it in this area at this stage,” said Dr Emmerson, who leads the Australian Antarctic Division’s (AAD) seabird research team.<\/p>\n

“But we’re obviously very concerned about its arrival.”\"Three<\/p>\n

Monitoring the birds is a “massive task”. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

Scientists on ‘high alert’ for virus<\/p>\n

Dr Emmerson’s team has been on “high alert” for the past two years, knowing the virus could breach the Australian Antarctic Territory any day.<\/p>\n

Before the scientists get too close to a colony, they launch a drone to inspect the penguins from the air to ensure there are no signs of bird flu, such as high rates of mortality.<\/p>\n

Once they have the all-clear, they collect samples from bird droppings, which will be tested in a laboratory back in Australia.<\/p>\n

They then set about gathering crucial population data, so they can understand the severity of the virus, if and when it reaches these shores.<\/p>\n

\"Wildlife<\/p>\n

Colin Southwell has been monitoring colonies near Casey Station. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

“To detect an impact of any kind, you need baseline data,” AAD wildlife ecologist Colin Southwell said.<\/p>\n

“You need data on what was happening before, so you can compare what’s happening after.”<\/p>\n

While Dr Southwell and Dr Emmerson have been monitoring colonies near Casey Station, other team members have been checking sites near Davis Station and Mawson Station.<\/p>\n

“The area we work over is 4,000 kilometres in extent of coastline \u2014 that’s the equivalent of eastern Australia to WA,” Dr Southwell said.<\/p>\n

“So it’s a massive task to try and get to all of those islands and monitor every population.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Scientists say the H5 strain of bird flu can “wipe out populations”. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

Penguins face multiple threats<\/p>\n

While the drones are useful for population checks, the team also has a network of about 50 nest-monitoring cameras located across eastern Antarctica.<\/p>\n

The cameras take 10 photos per day during the summer breeding season, and one photo per week over winter, giving the scientists an accurate bird count for each site.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The team also has a network of about 50 nest-monitoring cameras (Supplied: Nisha Harris)<\/p>\n

But bird flu is not the only threat for the penguins.<\/p>\n

Climate change and industrial krill fishing also pose risks.<\/p>\n

So, the scientists have been attaching tracking devices to some of the penguins to find out whether their feeding grounds are in the same area as krill-fishing vessels.<\/p>\n

“With the population surveys, with the nest camera, observations with the tracking [devices], we’re trying to get a baseline of what is normal in Ad\u00e9lie penguins,” Dr Southwell said.<\/p>\n

“So we can see whether there’s been an impact from avian influenza or fisheries or climate change and all kinds of human impacts.”<\/p>\n

The ABC travelled to Antarctica with the support of the Australian Antarctic Program.<\/p>\n

\"Penguins<\/p>\n

Bird flu is not the only threat for the penguins. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At Berkley Island in East Antarctica, hordes of Ad\u00e9lie penguins are nesting on a rocky outcrop surrounded by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[107577,21453,123738,71379,123740,30681,23643,91890,273,123739,73244,123741,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-201805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-animal-deaths","9":"tag-antarctica","10":"tag-australian-antarctic-territory","11":"tag-avian-influenza","12":"tag-berkley-island","13":"tag-bird-flu","14":"tag-casey-station","15":"tag-elephant-seals","16":"tag-environment","17":"tag-h5-strain","18":"tag-heard-island","19":"tag-louise-emmerson","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-newzealand","22":"tag-nz","23":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}