The island year

Macquarie Island is a wildlife paradise!

At different times of the year, the coastal margins teem with vast congregations of wildlife. Numerous species of seabirds and up to 100,000 seals and 4 million penguins are regular visitors to this tiny subantarctic island.

Skuas feeding on seal on Macquarie Island

Feeding frenzy. Skuas on Macquarie Island. Photo by D. Ross

Situated close to the Antarctic Convergence, where the nutrient rich waters of the Southern Ocean meet warmer waters, rich feeding grounds make the island an ideal haven for penguins, seals and sea birds to take refuge and breed.

For information on the breeding cycles of the animals and birds on Macuqarie Island, take a look at the Island Year (PDF), a condensed wildlife calendar.

This page was last modified on June 29, 2011.