text: Heard Island has vast colonies of penguins and petrels, and large harems of land-based marine predators such as elephant seals and fur seals. Due to the very high numbers of seabirds and marine mammals on Heard Island, the area is considered a "biological hot spot". The marine environment surrounding the islands features diverse and distinctive benthic habitats that support a range of species including corals, sponges, barnacles and echinoderms. This marine environment also serves as a nursery area for a range of fishes, including some species of commercial interest.
  Retreat of subantarctic glaciers
  Glaciers are currently retreating at significant rates throughout the southern hemisphere. With respect to glaciers of the Andes mountains in South America, abundant evidence has been collected from ongoing research at Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, Quelccaya Ice Cap and Qori Kalis Glacier in Peru, Zongo, Chacaltaya and Charquini glaciers in Bolivia, the Aconcagua River Basin in the central Chilean Andes, and the Northern Patagonian and Southern Patagonian ice fields. Retreat of glaciers in New Zealand and Antarctica is also well documented.
  Many subantarctic glaciers are also in retreat. Mass balance is significantly negative on many glaciers on Kergeulen Island, Heard Island, South Georgia and Bouvet Island.