Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

Predators on track for ocean protection around Antarctica

Satellite tracking of marine predators in the Southern Ocean has revealed key ecological areas under disproportionate pressure from human activities. These results show the value of tracking data for informing conservation efforts.
  1. Ana M. M. Sequeira

    1. Ana M. M. Sequeira is at the Oceans Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Even the most remote marine ecosystems on Earth — such as those at high latitudes, including in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica — can no longer be considered pristine1. The effects of humans on marine ecosystems now have a global footprint2–4, and mitigation of associated threats requires knowledge of the areas of particular ecological and biological significance. Such areas sustain the healthy functioning of marine ecosystems and should therefore be protected. Writing in Nature, Hindell et al.5 report analyses of tracking data for marine species that reveal these key areas in the Southern Ocean.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 580, 34-35 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00640-1

References

  1. Blight, L. K. & Ainley, D. G. Science 321, 1443 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Halpern, B. S. et al. Science 319, 948–952 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Queiroz, N. et al. Nature 572, 461–466 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Sequeira, A. M. M. et al. Front. Mar. Sci. 6, 639 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hindell, M. A. et al. Nature 580, 87–92 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Rintoul, S. R. Nature 558, 209–218 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Nicol, S., Foster, J. & Kawaguchi, S. Fish Fish. 13, 30–40 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Brooks, C. M. et al. Nature 558, 177–180 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Atkinson, A. et al. Nature Clim. Change 9, 142–147 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Dunstan, P. K. et al. Ocean Coastal Mgmt 121, 116–127 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Sergio, F. et al. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Systemat. 39, 1–19 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hays, G. C. et al. Trends Ecol. Evol. 34, 459–473 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Atkinson, A. et al. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 362, 1–23 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Freer, J. J., Tarling, G. A., Collins, M. A., Partridge, J. C. & Genner, M. J. Divers. Distrib. 25, 1259–1272 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Wright, G. et al. Mar. Policy https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2018.12.003 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links