New Scientist reports that from December 2017, Antartica’s Ross Sea will be the site of the world’s largest Marine Protected Area (MPA). 1.55 million square kilometers (59845 square miles) of the sea will become a “no take zone” protecting Adelie penguins, Antarctic petrels, Weddell seals, toothfish and minke whales as well as the krill that visiting animals feed on.

The MPA was agreed upon at a meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in Hobart, Australia earlier in October.

(Image credit: © John Weller/Smithsonian Museum of Natural History)