The Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica has broken up further, with an area of about 160 square kilometres breaking off from May 30 to May 31, 2008. The Wilkins Ice Shelf, a broad plate of floating ice on the Antarctic Peninsula, is connected to two islands, Charcot and Latady. A report in ESA said that in February, an area of about 400 sq km broke off from the ice shelf, narrowing the connection down to a 6km strip.

A strong earthquake with a 6.4 magnitude struck southwest of Australia's Macquarie Island early today, the US Geological Survey said. The epicentre of the quake, which hit at 12:31am (AEDT), was 745 kilometres southwest of the remote Australian territory, which lies about 1,450 kilometres southeast of the island state of Tasmania. The US agency reported that the quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometres. There were no immediate reports of damage and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre had not issued a tsunami warning.

In the global rush for resources, a tiny pink crustacean living in the seas around Antarctica is testing man's ability to manage one of the world's last great fisheries without damaging the environment. Krill, which grow to about 6 cm (2 inches), occur in vast schools and is the major source of food for whales, seals, penguins and sea birds. Without it, scientists say, the ecosystem in and around Antarctica could collapse.

The pesticide DDT, banned decades ago in much of the world, still shows up in penguins in Antarctica, probably due to the chemical's accumulation in melting glaciers, a sea bird expert said on Friday. Adelie penguins, known for their waddling gait and a habit of nesting on stones, have long shown evidence of DDT in their fatty tissues, although not in enough concentration to hurt the birds, according to Heidi Geisz of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.