You know a location is very windy when the trees and shrubs permanently lean in one direction. They might even be one-sided, with no foliage and scarred bark on the exposed side. Obviously, they will lean away from the strongest Read More …
Forty-five degree slopes, putrid seal wallows and gale force winds – these are some of the challenges and hazards of getting around Macquarie Island. Several walking tracks provide access between field huts and key locations on the island. To go Read More …
World Penguin Day (25th April) seems like a good excuse to share some photos of one of Macquarie Island’s four resident penguin species, the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus). And a video of a typically inquisitive and slightly pugnacious posse Read More …
Four years have passed since I first visited Macquarie Island and now the subantarctic island looks like a different place. The distinctive tussock grass is dotted across the coastal slopes in a scene reminiscent of the 1980s and 1990s when Read More …
The Aurora Australis is preparing to leave Hobart on a warm still autumn day. It looks like it will be a gentle cruise down the Derwent Estuary and across Storm Bay. We’re not expecting any bad weather for the first Read More …
There is a long list of extinct animals which were endemic to a particular island. Island endemics are particularly vulnerable to introduced predators which can rapidly eliminate a small island population. Such was the fate of Macquarie Island’s only native Read More …
Five years ago this month, hunters on Macquarie Island killed six rabbits. The hunters had been patrolling the Subantarctic tundra for a little over three months in the search for feral rabbits. At the time nobody knew these were the Read More …
The southernmost treelines The treeline at the southern tip of South America, in Tierra del Fuego, reaches up to 600 m.a.s.l. At the same latitude, Macquarie Island has no trees or shrubs. Is the lack of trees in the Subantarctic Read More …
UPDATE 19 SEPT 2016: Following a backlash from the public and scientific community the Australian Government is reconsidering the plan to close Macquarie Island station (see the backflipping ministerial announcement). We shall have to wait and see what the plan Read More …
(Continued from Part 1). The kind of things plant ecologists often measure in the field – the height and percentage foliage cover of different plants, species lists – are difficult to obtain from looking at a photograph of the landscape Read More …