When Australian scientists investigated whether a deadly wave of bird flu that has decimated wildlife globally had reached the sub-Antarctic Australian territory of Heard Island, they were initially reassured.

Wildlife ecologist Dr Julie McInnes, one of the team on board the ship RSV Nuyina, said the expedition to the remote island started with drone surveys, which covered a large area of coastline and showed healthy populations of seabirds, king penguins and both elephant seals and Antarctic fur seals.

The early ground surveys were also promising. Then the team visited a beach on the southern end of the island used as a breeding colony for elephant seals and made a devastating discovery: the shoreline was littered with dead pups and a few dead adults. The females usually feed their pups

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