Mass Die-Off On South Georgia From Bird Flu Includes Seals, Elephant Seals, Multiple Penguin & Other Bird Species

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The grave of the explorer Ernest Shackleton on South Georgia island has become inaccessible to visitors due to bodies of “dead seals blocking the way”, as increasing numbers of animals are killed by bird flu’s spread through the Antarctic. The H5N1 virus has spread to 10 species of birds and mammals since it arrived in the region last October, with five king penguins and five gentoo penguins the latest to test positive on the sub-Antarctic islands. Those confirmations follow reports of mass die-offs of elephant seals at the end of last year.

Astrid Saunders, a racing journalist who was on a cruise around South Georgia island and the Antarctic peninsula on 15-30 January, saw the devastation first-hand, as the ship was repeatedly prevented from docking. “Every day they would say we can’t land here because there are too many dead animals,” said Saunders.

The only place the ship could anchor was in Grytviken, home to Shackleton’s grave, a British post office and a museum. “We weren’t allowed to go up to the grave of Ernest Shackleton because there were so many dead seals blocking the way,” she said. “My impression from what I could see was that there were hundreds of dead seals.”

Saunders said calculating the number of mortalities was challenging, as it is difficult to distinguish between dead, ill and resting seals, but added: “There seemed to be an awful lot of bodies on the beach … a lot of seal pups with no mum. They were desperately trying to run around.”

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/14/explorer-ernest-shackleton-grave-antarctica-south-georgia-bird-flu-dead-seals-aoe