Triple threat: Macquarie Island Marine Park expansion to protect land, sea and creatures

Macquarie Island.
Image credit: Shutterstock

Tripling its size, Macquarie Island Marine Park’s extension is set to protect ocean and its precious inhabitants.

Macquarie Island Marine Park will triple in size in a federal government move that aims to protect the ocean and its threatened species for future generations.

Located halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica, the park, which currently covers 162,000 square kilometres, will grow to cover 475,465sq.km.

Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, says “Macquarie Island is an exceptional place – it’s a remote wildlife wonderland, a critical breeding ground for millions of seabirds, seals and penguins.”

Current residents include rockhopper penguins, the subantarctic fur seal, with large southern elephant seal populations also calling the area home.

An area larger than Germany that covers 93 per cent of the park will be completely closed to fishing, mining and other extractive activities.

Macquarie Island was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, with the marine park extending about 1500km southeast of Tasmania and deep into the Southern Ocean.