Inside Antarctica’s plague-infested penguin colonies

A team from EL PAÍS joins the Spanish expedition which has detected the spread of deadly avian flu among Antarctic fauna using a floating laboratory

Mar 13, 2025 - 13:00
Inside Antarctica’s plague-infested penguin colonies

Antonio Alcamí shuddered when he saw that a new plague — which had already caused the death of hundreds of millions of birds around the world — was leaping to the Americas and sweeping relentlessly from north to south, on its way to Antarctica, killing tens of thousands of marine mammals in its path.

Seguir leyendoUn miembro de la expedición, con dos cadáveres de pingüinos en Punta Hannah (isla Livingston, Antártida).Biologist Antonio Alcamí, on the bow of the sailing ship 'Australis', in Livingston Island (Antarctica).The skua is one of the species hardest hit by avian influenza in Antarctica.Brazilian veterinarian Joana Ikeda, one of the 11 members of the expedition, with a pole to take samples from the elephant seals' noses.Sampling of a giant petrel chick at Hannah Point Penguin Colony (Antarctica).