Could the world's biggest marine sanctuary be declared in the Antarctic?

Could the world's biggest marine sanctuary be declared in the Antarctic?

Proposals will go before a commission next month to help protect thousands of species in Antarctic waters

An extraordinarily big thing might happen in the world of marine conservation next month at a meeting in Germany of a little known international commission.

And while you probably haven't read much about it, the outcome could see the creation of the two largest areas of protected ocean on the planet that would lock out fishing from more than 1.5 million square kilometres of ocean around the Antarctic.

The areas in question – the Ross Sea and coastal areas in East Antarctica – are almost untouched by the often-clumsy hands of human progress and give a home to thousands of marine species.

Across the two areas are about a million pairs of Adélie penguins, more than a dozen species of whale, more than a third of the world's population of emperor penguins, abundant krill and fish species and the Ross Sea region's top predator – the toothfish, which can grow to two metres weighing 200 kilos (they've evolved special anti-freeze like proteins to survive in the frigid waters). Not to forget a colossal squid species that grows to 14 metres long "with eyes the size of dinner plates".



More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/planet-oz/2013/jun/17/antarctic-oceans-marine-sanctuary