Heard Island lies undisturbed in the Southern Ocean, a sentinel for Australia's current studies on climate change, biological responses and commercial fisheries. There is a wealth of information on the physical environment and the plants and animals on Heard Island buried in books, sealers' logbooks, scientific papers, climbing journals and geographical magazines. This book, written by experts in the field, brings these disparate sources together in 15 review chapters with associated appendices to form a cohesive whole - the story of Heard Island, a Southern Ocean sentinel.