Photo by: Dr Luis Pertierra
AT RISK: University of Pretoria macroecologist Dr Luis Pertierra, who took this photograph, has co-authored, with Prof Steven Chown of Monash University, a paper outlining policy proposals to protect the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Published in the leading Science journal, the paper warns that allowing fishing to continue in its current form in the Southern Ocean is increasingly unsustainable. The Southern Ocean, which contains about 10% of the world’s sea water, disproportionately absorbs carbon dioxide and heat produced elsewhere, thus, buffering the rest of the world from the impacts of climate change. The ocean’s food web also supports iconic animals such as these Adélie penguins, which are a near-threatened species found only along the Antarctic coast. Photograph: Dr Luis Pertierra