The tiny green island where penguins rule

By Johnny Simon

August 19, 2015

 

When penguins come to mind (and when don’t they?), the picture you’re bound to think up is the desolate white expanse of Antarctica. But penguins live in many various ecosystems throughout the Southern Hemisphere, including a large penguin population on Australia’s lush, green Macquarie Island.

Only 20 miles long, this narrow slice of land lies isolated more than 900 miles south of Australia, but boasts a diverse ecosystem with large multi-species penguin populations, seals and albatrosses.

See also: Few people have walked on Earth's newest island

The penguin population was hunted to near extinction in the early 20th century, when penguins were prized for their blubber. But conservation measures enacted in the 1960s and, more recently, UNESCO World Heritage inscription in 1997 have helped to protect this island’s unique ecosystem and its vulnerable inhabitants.

Image: Nick Rains/Corbis 

 

Image: Nick Rains/Corbis

Image: Nick Rains/Corbis

Image: Colin Monteath/Hedgehog House/Corbis

Image: Thorsten Milse/Robert Harding/Corbis

Image: Thorsten Milse/Robert Harding/Corbis

Image: Tui De Roy/Minden Pictures/Corbis

Image: Otto Plantema/Buiten-beeld/Corbis

Image: Konrad Wothe/Minden Pictures/Corbis

Image: Brett Phibbs/Corbis

Image: DLILLC/Corbis

Image: Brett Phibbs/Corbis

Image: Otto Plantema/Buiten-beeld/Corbis

Image: Wolfgang Kaehler/Corbis 

 

source