China and Russia have been blocking international plans to protect marine life in East Antarctica. Will next week’s special meeting in Chile break the deadlock? Australia hopes so.
Workmen dissecting a whale carcass in Antarctica, circa 1935.
Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Protecting the continent’s remaining pristine wilderness areas is urgent, but achievable.
A US Coast Guard icebreaker cuts a swathe through the icy the Southern Ocean earlier this year, on its way to rendezvous with a stricken fishing vessel.
Allyson Conroy/US Coast Guard/Wikimedia Commons
On the eve of a summit in Chile to discuss the protection of marine life in Antarctic waters, much still needs to be done to guard against overfishing, climate change and other threats.