Saving Macca: Protection triples for the Galapagos of the Southern Ocean
On World Ocean Day, just a few weeks back, Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek announced a massive expansion of the Macquarie Island Marine Park. This included an area bigger than Japan to be placed in a marine sanctuary and fully protected from fishing, mining, and other extractive pursuits.
It was an historic day for the remote sub-Antarctic island affectionately known as ‘Macca’, for ocean conservation, and for the 3.5 million seabirds and thousands of marine mammals whose very existence depends on the health of these extraordinary marine ecosystems.