Expeditioners questioned decision to evacuate Macquarie Island over bird flu risk

Australia has confirmed its first cases of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, with the virus detected in an elephant seal and a kelp gull. This discovery raises concerns over the survival of vulnerable wildlife populations, particularly the elephant seals, which are known to have mortality rates of over 90% among pups in some outbreaks.

The development follows Australia's first bird flu detections on the continent in June, although the virus had already been identified on another Australian sub-Antarctic territory, Heard Island, in late 2025. Australia's environment department had already announced plans to withdraw personnel from a research station on Macquarie Island due to the "psycho-social risk to expeditioners of a potential H5 avian influenza outbreak," citing expert assessments that the virus was likely to cause a significant elephant seal mortality event during the island's upcoming breeding season.

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