Australian Antarctic Territory Research Articles

Emperor penguin colonies in the Australian Antarctic Territory: how many are there?

ABSTRACTEmperor penguinsAptenodytes forsteriare endemic to Antarctica. Their breeding colonies are located in the coastal areas of the continent. The precise number of breeding locations is uncertain. This paper examines what is known about the colonies in the Australian Antarctic Territory and examines which colonies are without doubt breeding locations and which ones require further examination in order to determine their existence and status. Several colonies have not been seen since they were first reported. This begs the question of whether the reported sightings were indeed of breeding colonies. Given the extent of uncertainty with regard to the number of colonies, it is suggested that the listing of the species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature be changed from ‘of least concern’ to ‘data deficient’.

Incomplete search effort: a potential source of bias in estimates of Adélie penguin breeding populations in the Australian Antarctic Territory

ABSTRACTPotential Adélie penguin Pygoscelis adeliae breeding habitat in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT: 45°E–136°E, 142°E–160°E) was mapped using a geographic information system (GIS), and the literature reviewed for evidence of the mapped habitat being searched for presence or absence of breeding Adélie penguins. It is concluded that incomplete search effort is a possible source of substantial negative bias of Adélie penguin breeding abundance derived from published count data in some regions of the AAT. The extent of search effort in other regions of Antarctica could be determined using the same approach applied here, because GIS data required for mapping potential habitat are available for the entire continent. We would expect that regions with more scientific and tourist activity, such as the Antarctic Peninsula, are likely to have greater search effort than the AAT.

Norway and the ‘winning’ of Australian Antarctica

ABSTRACTEnquiries by Norwegian whalers precipitated the British annexation of the Falkland Island Dependencies and the Ross Dependency. Seeking territory free of British control, Lars Christensen's Norwegian whalers claimed Bouvet Island, which the British believed was theirs. Realisation of the economic value of whaling led Leopold Amery, of the British colonial office to develop Britain's Antarctic domination policy. In pursuit of this policy, the 1926 Imperial Conference formulated a process to claim a sector of Antarctica for Australia. A.G. Price's The Winning of Australian Antarctica describes the role of the Mawson led BANZARE in this process. To gain title to Bouvet Island, the Norwegian Government, dependant on friendly relations with Britain, agreed not to claim territory listed by the Imperial Conference as of ‘special interest’ to Britain. Claims made by whalers who had mapped and named territory in the unlisted area between Kemp and Queen Mary Lands were rejected by the Norwegian prime minister. Following the 1933 Order in Council establishing the Australian Antarctic Territory, Norway raised concerns that the territory included Haakon VII Vidde (polar plateau) and the parts of Dronning (Queen) Maud Land that had been mapped and discovered by Norwegians. Price's contention that Australian Antarctica was ‘won’ is questionable.

Retrofitting historical data in population studies: southern giant petrels in the Australian Antarctic Territory

The determination of the conservation status for a species at risk of extinction is based largely upon consistent change in the population size. In long-lived species, such as seabirds, longterm monitoring is required to establish the extent of the natural variability in a population and to detect true change. As studies spanning several generations within the same population are rare, researchers may turn to historically collected census information to expand the time frame of their studies. While in principle a valid approach, several limitations need to be considered to use historical information appropriately. Census information, collated from the 1950s to the present, of 3 populations of southern giant petrels Macronectus giganteus in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) is used to highlight potential limitations inherent in historical data. We demonstrate the importance of census time and count units when investigating potential changes in populations. Published accounts indicate that the numbers of southern giant petrels in the AAT have decreased significantly since their discovery and that more recently some recovery has taken place. However, for 2 of the 3 populations we could not find evidence supporting a change

Population estimates of emperor penguins at Amanda Bay, Ingrid Christensen Coast, Antarctica

ABSTRACTIn 2008, the emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri colony at Amanda Bay, East Antarctica, was designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area by the 31st Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is only the third emperor penguin colony in the Australian Antarctic Territory to receive this status. The colony has been known to exist since 1956 and numerous visits have been made to it, especially by personnel from Australia's Davis station. On a number of occasions, attempts were made to estimate the number of birds in the colony in order to obtain an insight into the size of the breeding population. Here we report on the history of visitation to the colony since the 1950s and examine the quality of information collected with regard to the usefulness of this information in terms of population analyses. We also report the results of the first visit to the Amanda Bay colony made in winter with the specific purpose of estimating the number of birds present and of highlighting the need for long term monitoring programmes to assess the viability of emperor penguins in future.

Theatre sports in the Southern Ocean: engagement options for Australia in whale research protest action

In the great whaling debate, fuelled twice yearly by the annual International Whaling Commission meeting and the departure of the Japanese research fleet for the Southern Ocean, silliness knows no bounds. 2008 was no exception, as the Southern Ocean again became the location of protest action (sometimes provocative and potentially life-threatening) against Japanese scientific research vessels. The Japanese are accused of ‘whaling’ in a whale sanctuary off the Australian Antarctic Territory, yet this claim to sovereignty is not legally proven and therefore not universally accepted. The Rudd Labor Government bowed to significant pressure and sent its Customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking, to spy on the Japanese fleet and gather evidence for a possible ‘world court’ action. This paper examines what options were available to Australia to intervene in the protest action, to monitor the Japanese research and to take legal action in an international forum within the constraints of internationally defined diplomatic and legal boundaries. It concludes that the risk of attracting the wrath of the Japanese government and other Antarctic Treaty countries is great indeed and the Australian government must be careful not to step too far outside these boundaries.

The Australian Antarctic Territory: A Man’s World?

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Australian Antarctic Territory: A Man’s World?Christy CollisChristy CollisDepartment of Media and CommunicationQueensland University of Technology Search for more articles by this author Department of Media and CommunicationQueensland University of TechnologyPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 34, Number 3Spring 2009 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/593379 Views: 102Total views on this site Citations: 24Citations are reported from Crossref © 2009 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Lisa E. Bloom, Elena Glasberg Viewers as Citizen Scientists, (Aug 2022): 130–149.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478018643-006 Antarctica and the Contemporary Sublime in Intersectional Feminist Art Practices, (Aug 2022): 25–53.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478018643-002 Reclaiming the Arctic through Feminist and Black Aesthetic Perspectives, (Aug 2022): 54–83.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478018643-003 At Memory’s Edge, (Aug 2022): 84–101.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478018643-004 From the Heroic Sublime to Environments of Global Decline, (Aug 2022): 1–22.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478018643-001 Seeing from the Future, (Aug 2022): 195–200.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478018643-009 Notes, (Aug 2022): 201–227.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478018643-010 Filmography, (Aug 2022): 229–234.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478018643-011 Bibliography, (Aug 2022): 235–252.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478018643-012Meredith Nash Breaking the silence around blood: managing menstruation during remote Antarctic fieldwork, Gender, Place & Culture 19 (Apr 2022): 1–21.https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2022.2066635Meredith Nash National Antarctic Program responses to fieldwork sexual harassment, Antarctic Science 21 (Oct 2021): 1–12.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102021000432Elspeth Probyn When Fish Is Meat, (Feb 2021): 17–38.https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478012481-002Daniella McCahey ‘The last refuge of male chauvinism’: print culture, masculinity, and the British Antarctic Survey (1960-1996), Gender, Place & Culture 28 (Jan 2021): 1–18.https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2021.1873746Lisa E. Bloom Planetary precarity and feminist environmental art practices in Antarctica, Journal of Postcolonial Writing 56, no.44 (Jul 2020): 547–567.https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2020.1782576Meredith Nash, Hanne Nielsen Gendered Power Relations and Sexual Harassment in Antarctic Science in the Age of #MeToo, Australian Feminist Studies 35, no.105105 (Jun 2020): 261–276.https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2020.1774864Klaus Dodds Reflecting on the 60th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, Polar Record 55, no.55 (Oct 2019): 311–316.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247419000536Nelson Llanos Housewives at the end of the world. Chilean women living in Antarctica, 1984–1986, The Polar Journal 9, no.22 (Nov 2019): 358–370.https://doi.org/10.1080/2154896X.2019.1685175Meredith Nash, Hanne E. F. Nielsen, Justine Shaw, Matt King, Mary-Anne Lea, Narissa Bax, Christopher D. Lynn “Antarctica just has this hero factor…”: Gendered barriers to Australian Antarctic research and remote fieldwork, PLOS ONE 14, no.11 (Jan 2019): e0209983.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209983Emma Shortis ‘In the Interest of All Mankind’: Women and the Environmental Protection of Antarctica, (Dec 2017): 247–261.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64385-4_14Meredith Nash, Robyn Moore , The Polar Journal 8, no.11 ( 2018): 110.https://doi.org/10.1080/2154896X.2018.1468629Morgan Seag Women need not apply: gendered institutional change in Antarctica and Outer Space, The Polar Journal 7, no.22 (Nov 2017): 319–335.https://doi.org/10.1080/2154896X.2017.1373915Klaus Dodds ‘Awkward Antarctic nationalism’: bodies, ice cores and gateways in and beyond Australian Antarctic Territory/East Antarctica, Polar Record 53, no.11 (Oct 2016): 16–30.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247416000516Klaus J. Dodds Sovereignty watch: claimant states, resources, and territory in contemporary Antarctica, Polar Record 47, no.33 (Dec 2010): 231–243.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247410000458K. J. Dodds Amongst the palm trees: ruminations on the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, Polar Record 46, no.11 (Oct 2009): 1–2.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247409990167

Some Views Are More Equal Than Others: Submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and the Strange Loss of Confidence in Article IV of The Antarctic Treaty

The article offers opinions on position papers submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS or Commission) regarding Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty. The November 2004 submission of Australia to the CLCS includes a region of prolongation of the landmass of the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT). Norway's May 4, 2009 submission in respect to Dronning Maud Land is identical to Australia's request. New Zealand's submission in April 2006 has no reference to or information on the Ross Dependency.

Hilary Owen Meredith King

Hilary King, who died suddenly aged 58, was an internationally renowned epidemiologist specialising in diabetes. He was born in Leeds, England, on 31 July 1949, the son of an English...

Population subdivision in the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) revealed by mitochondrial and nuclear single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)

AbstractThe Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) exhibits a circumpolar distribution in coastal waters south of the Antarctic Polar Front. For a preliminary evaluation of global population structure in this species, we examined four mitochondrial regions and 13 nuclear gene fragments in samples from four CCAMLR Subareas in the Southern Ocean (Australian Antarctic Territory (Subarea 58.4.2), Ross Dependency (Subareas 88.1 and 88.2) and the South Shetland Islands (Subarea 48.1). Significant genetic differentiation within and among locations was observed for both mitochondrial and nuclear loci. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers developed here will be useful for more extensive analyses of population structure in this species.

Hydroids of the BANZARE expeditions, 1929 – 1931: the family Haleciidae (Hydrozoa, Leptothecata) from the Australian Antarctic Territory

Watson, J.E. 2008. Hydroids of the BANZARE expeditions, 1929 – 1931: the family Haleciidae (Hydrozoa, Leptothecata) from the Australian Antarctic Territory . Memoirs of Museum Victoria 65: 165–178. The BANZARE Expeditions (British, Australian, New Zealand, Antarctic Research Expeditions) 1929 – 1931 sampled the marine benthos in the Southern Ocean, at the Kerguelen Islands, Heard Island, Macquarie Island, and southwest of Tasmania and along the coast of the Australian Antarctic Territory. Forty six stations at depths of 2 - 640 m were occupied along the Australian Antarctic Territory coast. Eight species of Halecium including fi ve new and Hydrodendron arboreum were found and recorded from eight stations.

Crustal thickness in Australia: where, how and what for?

Geoscience Australia regularly undertakes crustal thickness measurements and it is the only National Agency that maintains a database of such measurements in Australia and its offshore territories, including the Australian Antarctic Territory. The most reliable estimates of crustal thickness come from refraction and wide-angle reflection seismic experiments, as well as from receiver function analyses. As of September 2007, there are only 474 crustal thickness measurements stored in Geoscience Australia?s database derived from such experiments. Crustal thickness data are essential for development of crustal scale tectonic models, assessment of geohazards, constraining of potential field inversions, estimation of crustal stretching rate in sedimentary basin modelling. Estimates of relative significance of depth of subsidence, basement heat production, and thickness of the crust for positioning of hydrocarbon maturation windows show that effects of crustal thickness can outweigh those of basement heat production.

Mawson and Mirnyy Stations: the spatiality of the Australian Antarctic Territory, 1954–61

This article focuses on the spatiality of the Australian Antarctic Territory in the important 1954–61 period. Attending particularly to three key components of polar spatiality—geopolitics, international territorial law, and the built environment—the article analyses the development of the Territory as a unique Australian space. The 1954–61 period is particularly significant: during this period, the International Geophysical Year brought an unprecedented number of people to Antarctica; the continent's first permanent colonies were constructed; and, despite Cold War tensions, the 1961 Antarctic Treaty established the spatial configurations and rules which continue to govern the continent today. The article focuses particularly on two key stations in the Territory constructed during this period: Australia's Mawson Station and the Soviet Mirnyy Station. Mawson is a legal colony, designed to cement Australia's claim to 42 per cent of the Antarctic continent; Mirnyy, in contrast, is an anti-colony, designed to reject Australia's claim. How the individual spatialities of these two stations articulate to the broader politics of Antarctic territoriality—and particularly Australia's claim to the Australian Antarctic Territory—is the focus of this article.

The behavioural response of lactating Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) to over-snow vehicles: a case study

Over-snow vehicles are used extensively at Antarctic scientific research stations. Adult female Weddell seals ( Leptonychotes weddellii (Lesson, 1826)) also utilise the fast-ice and are therefore often exposed to vehicular activity, with the potential of affecting their behaviour. Guidelines for vehicular travel have been developed to minimise disturbance to Antarctic wildlife; however, these guidelines have not yet been scientifically tested. To examine the efficiency and sensitivity of existing guidelines used within the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT), we conducted drive-by experiments of two types of over-snow vehicles. The results of these experiments showed that the probability of a lactating Weddell seal looking at the vehicles and the duration of the seals’ looking at the vehicles were dependent on the distance between vehicles and seals, the position of the pups in relation to its mother, and the distance the adult female was from the water. Although the seals apparently perceived the vehicles to be a threat, no seals fled in response to vehicle activity. We propose that the existing guidelines used in the AAT could be amended to increase separation distances between vehicles and breeding Weddell seals if the goal of management is to ensure that Weddell seal behaviour is unaffected by vehicle travel.

Australia's Antarctic agenda

Australia has had a long connection with, and significant national interests in, the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. The Australian Antarctic Territory comprises 42 per cent of Antarctica's landmass. Australia is not only a claimant state and original signatory to the Antarctic Treaty but has played a significant role in the development of what is termed the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). This article aims to provide an overview of Australia's key policy interests and government policy goals towards Antarctica, including its commitment to the ATS. In examining key policy objectives we note that despite continuity and development of these objectives, significant changes and challenges have arisen in the period 1984–2006. It is these challenges that will help frame Australia's Antarctic agenda over the next 20 years and beyond.

High latitude diplomacy: Australia's Antarctic extended continental shelf

One day inside its 10-year deadline, Australia made a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) delimiting the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (nm) from the baselines (the ‘‘extended continental shelf’’). In the Executive Summary of its submission, the Australian government emphasized its support for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC3) and the institutions (including the CLCS) established by that Convention. It explained that it was submitting its claim to an extended continental shelf in accordance with Article 76 of LOSC using a variety of formulae. The submission referred to data supporting an extended continental shelf in 10 discrete regions, including three for which delimitation agreements with other States have not yet been concluded. One of these regions is the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT). A 2001 Marine Policy article by this author suggested that Australia would include the AAT in its CLCS submission, despite the territory being the subject of unproven sovereignty. The article described the legal, political and technical issues surrounding Australia’s position as it was in 2000. In April 2005 the CLCS will consider Australia’s submission, including a legally and politically significant caveat concerning the Antarctic component.

Can Australia assert an Extended Continental Shelf off the Australian Antarctic Territory consistent with the Law of the Sea and within the constraints of the Antarctic Treaty?

In May 2004, Australia confirmed to the United Nations its intention to make a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ‘in relation to all relevant areas of extended con...

Incineration of waste at Casey Station, Australian Antarctic Territory

The Australian Antarctic Division manages four permanent stations in the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic. At each station a municipal waste incinerator is used to dispose of putrescible waste, wood, paper, cardboard, and plastics. Incineration significantly reduces the volume of waste but this combustion also emits toxic compounds. This study examined the waste incineration stream at Casey Station, Australian Antarctic Territory. The waste stream was sorted, burnt, and the incinerator emissions monitored. Twelve chemical compounds in gaseous emissions and heavy metals in the ash were measured. Results indicate that emissions of carbon monoxide are higher than one might expect from a small incinerator, and hydrocarbon emissions from the incinerator exceed combined hydrocarbon emissions from other sources on station. Arsenic and copper concentrations in ash, which is returned to Australia for disposal, exceed limits for hazardous waste disposal and so treatment would be required. Recommendations are provided on controlling source material in order to reduce or eliminate toxic emissions and undertaking incinerator maintenance to optimise combustion.

Editorial

Editorial

Distribution and abundance of snow petrels Pagodroma nivea in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica

In light of a paucity of available data on snow-petrel breeding areas and population sizes in the Australian Antarctic Territory, we undertook a systematic regional survey in the Windmill Islands during the 2002/2003 summer. Snow petrels were found breeding at most ice-free localities at varying densities. A total of 4,034 active snow-petrel nests were located; 83% of these active nests were located in the southern half of the survey area. Based on the surveys, we provide distribution maps of nesting areas at a regional scale and estimate the total breeding population at approximately 12,200 pairs.