Sub-Antarctic Islands – Wildlife Paradise

Alex Burridge – August 2024
MD Antarctica Travel Centre

The sub-Antarctic is an area located immediately north of the Antarctic region, roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands in the southern parts of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, especially those situated north of the Antarctic Convergence.

There are about 20 archipelagos of sub-Antarctic Islands some like Tristan da Cunha, Crozet, Gough, Kerguelen and Amsterdam are infrequently visited, or solely explored by ships and traveller’s wanting to tick off rarely and perhaps site-specific wildlife; like the Eaton’s pintail on Crozet (which also has over 2 million pairs of macaroni and 700,000 pairs of king penguins penguins).

Despite the Islands being thousands of kilometres apart they have one very common aspect; they are home to incredible populations of seabirds, seals and plant life which is often unique to the Island or group of Islands

Cooper Bay South Georgia

The Falkland Islands and South Georgia

The Falkland Islands and South Georgia are often explored on voyages to the Antarctica Peninsula.
The Falkland Islands have five species of penguins, gentoo being the most successful with over 100,000 breeding pairs.  King penguins numbers have increased over the last 20 years to almost 1,500 pairs.  The Islands have over 220 recorded bird species, 2 are endemic.

South Georgia is likely number one when it comes to sub-Antarctic wildlife.  Four penguin species:
Chinstrap 12,000 pairs, Gentoo 100,000, King 450,000 pairs and the winner Macaroni with over 1,000,000 pairs.  So the Penguin total is about 3,124,000 birds – give or take..

Petrel and shearwater numbers put penguins numbers to shame; 59,237,000 birds yes 59 million…
Add tens of thousands of pairs of albatross, add several million Antarctic fur seals and hundreds of thousands of southern elephant seals and you’ll understand how magnificent South Georgia is and that’s just from a wildlife perspective.

South Georgia’s scenery is powerful.

Many ships offer voyages that take in The Falkland Islands and South Georgia – usually in combination with the Antarctic Peninsula

Sub-Antarctic Islands of Australia and New Zealand

A little closer to home Australia and New Zealand have our own equally magnificent Sub-Antarctic Islands all declared World Heritage sites.

Okay so Australia only has one, Macquarie, and despite being just 34km long and 5km wide Macquarie Island offers a wide array of wildlife; all three species of fur seal (Antarctic, sub-Antarctic and New Zealand) as well as 80,000 southern elephant seals, four species of albatross (Wandering, grey-headed, black-browed and Light mantled), 120,000 pairs of king penguins, 1,250 pairs of gentoos, 750,000 pairs of Royal penguins which only breed here, and about 50,000 pairs of Rockhoppers as well as hundreds of thousands of petrels and small population of shags and Antarctic terns.

Several of the birds species have recently recolonised after a successful rodent and rabbit pest eradication programme.

Royal Penguin colony Macquarie Island

Chatham’s Albatross

Antipodes Parakeet

Snares Crested penguin

Crested penguins make these Islands their home: Royal, Yellow-eyed, Snares, and erect crested.  The following image makes it clear why they are classified as ‘crested’ penguins.  King penguins round off the list.

The New Zealand sea lion population is centred on the Auckland Islands. As with Macquarie many of the islands have had successful pest eradication programmes; Macquarie Island called on the experience of the NZ campaigns to help.

Royal (crested) penguin Macquarie Island

Albatross running take-off

The Heritage Adventurer offers a range of voyages exploring New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Islands and Macquarie.  The Heritage Adventurer, Douglas Mawson and Scenic Eclipse II offer a range of voyages that include sub-Antarctic Islands on the way to or from the Ross Sea.  Please call 1300 784 794 to find the voyage that best suits your interests.

Each polar cruise has its own highlights and as the weather varies the schedule may change. Call 1300 784 794 or email contact@antarcticatravelcentre.com.au to talk to one of our Antarctic Experts to find the cruise that is right for you.