Antarctic sea becomes world's largest marine protected area

An enormous Antarctic bay, home to penguins and killer whales, became the world's largest protected marine area on Friday.A United Nations body sealed the deal after five years of negotiations, at a meeting in Hobart, Tasmania.

"It's near pristine and how many near pristine parts of the ocean do we have left on the planet?" WWF Australia Ocean Science Manager Chris Johnson told CNN.

Twenty-four nations and the European Union agreed unanimously to declare the Ross Sea in Antarctica an official Marine Protected Area after negotiations brokered by the UN's Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources

According to the UN, 50% of ecotype-C killer whales (the smallest of the four types of Southern Hemisphere orcas), 40% of Adelie penguins and 25% of emperor penguins live in the area covered by the new park.

"The data collected from this 'living laboratory' helps us understand the significant changes taking place on Earth right now," United States scientist David Ainley, one of the first to call for the area to be protected, said in a statement.