The Australian Antarctic Division (ADD) is preparing to send its icebreaker Nuyina to Macquarie Island to evacuate all 24 expeditioners from the research station. The evacuation is a response to the risk of an H5 avian influenza outbreak among the island's wildlife. Bird flu has not been detected on Macquarie Island. The Australian government's assessment predicts a high likelihood of an outbreak because the island is a wildlife sanctuary with up to four million seabirds and 100,000 seals. Macquarie Island lies in the Southern Ocean, about 1,500 kilometers from Nuyina's home port in Hobart, Tasmania.
The Heard Island seal deaths show what H5 can do
The fears that drove the evacuation emerged after the deaths at Heard Island and McDonald Islands. More than 13,000 seal pups died there in the summer. H5 was first detected on Heard Island late last year. By June 2026, researchers believed more than three-quarters of all pups had died. Bird flu is deadly for elephant seals, with a mortality rate of up to 90 percent.
Macquarie Island is currently free of the disease. Thousands of elephant seals are born close to the station every spring, and they are susceptible to bird flu. That combination led the government to extract the tradespeople, scientists, and support staff. The risk to humans is considered low. The government said the psychosocial risks of living near potentially large numbers of affected animals are unnecessary.
Sean Sullivan, Deputy Secretary at Australia's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, called the measure unusual and said it was the most appropriate course of action based on assessments of risk and operational realities.
The station will be empty for the first time since 1948
Macquarie Island station has been staffed continuously since it was established in 1948. This evacuation marks the first time it will be without personnel. The station is an important site for conservation, environmental, and climate research projects.
The current team of 24 expeditioners has been on station for about five months, after starting a year-long deployment in May. Nuyina will also retrieve essential cargo because it remains unclear how long the station will be vacated. ADD is exploring options for monitoring the island and hopes the expeditioners will return in coming seasons. The timing of their return has not been set.
Nuyina is a 525-foot icebreaker, and the Macquarie run is an extra mission added before its scheduled program of Antarctica resupply operations in late October.
A major rebuild is planned for the station
ADD recently unveiled a major project to rebuild the Macquarie Island research station. Extreme weather has deteriorated many of the buildings, and the agency said they are approaching the end of their useful life. The rebuild is budgeted at A$370 million, or US$266.4 million, and is expected to be completed by 2032. The project is designed to allow a continued year-round presence on the island.
For now, the station will be left unstaffed. The question worth putting to an expedition operator this season: what is the plan if avian influenza appears near a landing site? The Macquarie evacuation shows that wildlife disease can force a fast withdrawal.