When it was announced that the Ross Sea will become Earth's largest marine reserve, possibly one of the loudest whoops of joy came from Waipu resident Philippa Ross. A week ago, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) announced it would establish a Ross Sea marine protection area (MPA). Ms Ross is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Sir James Ross, after whom the sea is named and whose British naval expedition on HMS Erebus and HMS Terror charted the region in 1841. The MPA will come into force in December 2017 and include a 1.55 million km2 - or 72 per cent of the Ross Sea - 'no-take' zone which forbids all fishing. Last February, she and her uncle, James Hood Ross from UK, voyaged to Antarctica to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the discovery of the Ross Sea and Ross Ice Shelf.

Source: New Zealand Herald November 05, 2016 06:00 UTC