Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016C01080:clause:1_2:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016C01080
Segment Type: clause
Provision Reference: sch 1 cl 2 (pt 1/2)
Character Range: 132609–135495

2  Description
  Hawker Island, lying some 300 m off the Antarctic mainland, is located 7 km south‑west from the Australian Davis station in the Vestfold Hills on the Ingrid Christensen Coast, Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica at 68° 35 S, 77° 50 E (Map A). The island supports a breeding colony of southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) which is the southernmost colony of the species on continental Antarctica. The island also supports a colony of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) and a limited number of flying birds (Map B).
  The southern giant petrel colony was discovered in December 1963, and at that time there were 40‑50 nests present, 'some with eggs'. Seventeen population counts were undertaken between 1963 and 1999. A maximum of 90 nests with eggs was recorded in 1970–71. The recorded number of nests with eggs had decreased to 10 in 1983, but the 2 most recent surveys, conducted in 1987 and 1999, recorded 21 and 25 respectively.
  Hawker Island is one of only four known breeding locations for southern giant petrels on the coast of continental Antarctica. The other locations have all been designated as Antarctic specially protected areas: ASPA No. 102, Rookery Islands, Holme Bay, Mac.Robertson Land (67º 36 S, 62º 53 E)—near Mawson Station; ASPA No. 160, Frazier Islands, Wilkes Land (66° 13 S, 110° 11 E)—near Casey station; and ASPA No. 120, Pointe‑Geologie, Terre Adélie (66º 40 S, 140º 01 E)—near Dumont d'Urville. Southern giant petrels on the Antarctic continent comprise less than 1% of the global breeding population. The current population for continental Antarctica is estimated at approximately 290 pairs, comprised of 25 pairs on Hawker Island, 3 pairs on Giganteus Island (part of the Rookery Islands group), 248 pairs on the Frazier Islands and 16 pairs at Pointe‑Geologie.
  Southern giant petrels also breed on islands in the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans and in the Antarctic Peninsula.
  As indicated above, the breeding population of southern giant petrels at Hawker Island decreased following its discovery in the early 1960s by personnel from nearby Davis Station. Human disturbance has been implicated in the observed decreases at all four southern giant petrel breeding sites on continental Antarctica. The disturbance to colonies near the Australian stations arose primarily through early efforts (1950s–1970s) to band adults and chicks at the nest. The population decrease at Pointe‑Geologie has been attributed to station construction at Dumont d'Urville Station.
  Southern giant petrels breeding in East Antarctica are particularly sensitive to disturbance at the nest. Restrictions in activities permitted at breeding sites, including a prohibition of banding, were introduced in the mid 1980s. While the population at Hawker Island has not recovered to the same extent as that on the Frazier Islands,