The expanding population of fur seals coming onshore Antarctica's Signy Island : ecological impacts and implications for environmental management.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries commercial seal hunting in maritime Antarctica resulted in a huge decline in the populations of Antarctic fur seals. In some areas to near extinction. (1) However, since the end of sealing in the Southern Ocean the population has made a huge recovery. At Signy Island in the South Orkney Island’s paleolimnological studies suggest that the population of fur seals coming onshore during the summer months has increased beyond any in the past 6500 years. (1) The increased activity is having a major impact on the unique terrestrial ecology of Signy Island and if some sort of strategy for managing the seal population is not established permanent ecological damage may be done. (3