Argentine scientists on their Antarctic base, Primavera, have collected samples from dead Arctic skuas (Stercorarius parasiticus) that yielded H5N1 virus. This species breeds in Scandinavia and Scotland and migrates the longest distance of all marine birds to the Antarctic. Mortality among breeding colonies due to H5N1 was extensive in 2023.

If the disease spreads as expected, colonies of marine birds including penguins will be impacted, resulting in severe mortality as has occurred in many species of marine birds in both the northern and southern hemispheres over the past two years.