Health of Antarctic Wildlife, 2009
A Challenge for Science and Policy

comprehensively up to date. We are most grateful to these authors and to those we recruited to write the additional chapters necessary to fill the significant gaps. We acknowledge also the sacrifice of some who presented results of original research and have thus suffered a longer time than usual to publication. The timing of publication however has provided the opportunity to highlight recent discussions and resolutions made within the Antarctic Treaty forum to protect wildlife against disease and to include responses by Government and non-Government operators in Antarctica. These developments mostly followed from the Workshop on Diseases of Antarctic Wildlife. The book comprises 17 chapters presented in two parts. Wildlife disease consists of reviews, case studies and health assessments, and External factors covers the environmental, administrative and legal aspects. Each chapter is complete and c- tains all references. Six important documents are provided as Appendices. These present methods, reviews and other documents which are referred to in one or more chapters but are not readily available. There are many related topics we have been unable to cover that would enhance the understanding of health and disease processes in Antarctica. While we ackno- edge their importance they are outside the scope of the present volume. Such topics include epidemiology, new and emerging infectious diseases and the effects of climate change. These topics are referred to in the various chapters where ref- ences to source material are given.

Wildlife disease - reviews, case studies and health assessments.- Health of Antarctic Wildlife: An Introduction.- Risk of Marine Mammal Die-Offs in the Southern Ocean.- Diseases of Antarctic Seabirds.- Diseases and Parasites of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Seals.- Infectious Bursal Disease Virus and Antarctic Birds.- An Unusual Mortality Event Among Adélie Penguins in the Vicinity of Mawson Station, Antarctica.- Investigation of the 1998 Mass Mortality Event in New Zealand Sea Lions.- Health Assessment of Weddell Seals, Leptonychotes weddellii, in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.- Health Assessment and Diseases of the Weddell seal, Leptonochotes weddelli, in Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica.- Health Assessment of the Leopard Seal, Hydrurga leptonyx, in Prydz Bay, Eastern Antarctica and NSW, Australia.- External factors - environmental, administrative and legal.- Antarctic Climate, Weather and the Health of Antarctic Wildlife.- National Antarctic Programs and Their Impact on the Environment.- Antarctic Tourism: An Operator’s Perspective.- Human-Mediated Impacts on the Health of Antarctic Wildlife.- Measuring Stress in Antarctic Seals.- Sewage Disposal and Wildlife Health in Antarctica.- The International Legal Framework for Protecting the Health of Antarctic Wildlife.- The Antarctic Treaty System and Wildlife Health: Disease Awareness, Prevention and Response.

Covers all the essential issues necessary for the understanding of health and disease relating to Antarctic wildlife to provide for wise council in the management of human activities in Antarctica