An enormous Antarctic bay, home to penguins and killer whales, became the world's largest protected marine area on Friday Oct 28,2016
A UN body sealed the deal after five years of negotiations, at a meeting in Hobart, Tasmania.
"It's near pristine and how many near pristine parts of the ocean do we have left on the planet?" WWF Australia Ocean Science Manager Chris Johnson told
Twenty-four nations and the European Union agreed unanimously to
declare the Ross Sea in Antarctica an official Marine Protected Area
after negotiations brokered by the UN's Commission for the Conservation
of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
According to the UN, 50 % of ecotype-C killer whales (the smallest of the four types of Southern Hemisphere orcas), 40 % of Adelie penguins and 25 per cent of emperor penguins live in the area covered by the new park.
"The data collected from this 'living laboratory' helps us understand the significant changes taking place on Earth right now," US scientist David Ainley, one of the first to call for the area to be protected, said in a statement.
The creation of this large marine reserve, which will be in force by the end of next year, includes an area of around 1.1 million sq.km, or 72 per cent of its surface, where fishing is prohibited
A UN body sealed the deal after five years of negotiations, at a meeting in Hobart, Tasmania.
"It's near pristine and how many near pristine parts of the ocean do we have left on the planet?" WWF Australia Ocean Science Manager Chris Johnson told
According to the UN, 50 % of ecotype-C killer whales (the smallest of the four types of Southern Hemisphere orcas), 40 % of Adelie penguins and 25 per cent of emperor penguins live in the area covered by the new park.
"The data collected from this 'living laboratory' helps us understand the significant changes taking place on Earth right now," US scientist David Ainley, one of the first to call for the area to be protected, said in a statement.
The creation of this large marine reserve, which will be in force by the end of next year, includes an area of around 1.1 million sq.km, or 72 per cent of its surface, where fishing is prohibited
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