Southern Ocean Wildlife Health
Field-based disease surveillance in Antarctic and Southern Ocean wildlife
Southern Ocean Wildlife Health is a research programme focused on understanding disease dynamics in wildlife across the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. Led by Dr Jane Younger, a National Geographic Explorer and Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (University of Tasmania), the project brings together disease surveillance, ecological monitoring, and on-the-ground fieldwork across some of the most remote regions on Earth.
A central focus of this work is tracking the spread and impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in seabirds and seals, and placing this within a broader context of wildlife health and ecosystem change in the Southern Ocean. This work was recently featured in National Geographic.
Support the Research
Project Overview
Southern Ocean Wildlife Health integrates field sampling, ecological monitoring, and laboratory-based analyses to investigate wildlife disease across the Southern Ocean.
Research activities include the collection of biological samples from seabirds and seals, long-term monitoring of populations at key breeding sites, and molecular and serological analyses to identify pathogens and patterns of exposure.
Although current work is focused on understanding the spread and impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1), the project is designed to support broader surveillance of wildlife health and to establish baseline data that can be used to detect and interpret future disease events.
Image credit: Simon Ager
Why This Research Matters
In the Southern Ocean, wildlife disease outbreaks are often detected only after opportunities for early intervention have already passed.r
Limited detection capacity
The Southern Ocean supports globally important populations of seabirds and marine mammals, yet it has very limited capacity for detecting or responding to wildlife disease outbreaks. In many cases, by the time mass mortality events are observed, the underlying drivers are poorly understood and opportunities for early intervention have already passed.
H5N1 as a warning signal
The recent emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic wildlife has highlighted this vulnerability. Outbreaks have caused severe mortality in some populations, raising urgent questions about disease spread, long-term population impacts, and future risks to ecosystems that are already under pressure from environmental change.
Baselines and long-term monitoring
By establishing baseline data and maintaining long-term disease surveillance, Southern Ocean Wildlife Health aims to provide the evidence needed to better understand these processes and to inform conservation planning, biosecurity decision-making, and international discussions about protecting Antarctic wildlife into the future.
Get Involved
Southern Ocean Wildlife Health is supported through a combination of competitive research funding, institutional support, and philanthropic contributions. Long-term wildlife disease surveillance in remote regions is logistically complex, and additional support helps enable fieldwork, sample processing, and ongoing monitoring.
There are two ways to stay connected with this work:
For research or institutional enquiries: jane.younger@utas.edu.au
Field sampling for avian influenza surveillance in Antarctic seabirds. Image credit: Simon Ager.