Tourism in Antarctica

And so the debates rolls on – is tourism good for Antarctica?  I’ve just been reading an online article by BBC Science correspondent Christine McGourty.  She reports that Britain is leading an effort to introduce a new "Antarctic Code" for shipping in the Southern Ocean.   The NZ Herald are also running with this topic - should tourists be allowed to visit Antarctica?  Discover the World only work with IAATO (International Assoc of Antarctic Tour Operators) voyage operators, who respect and hold the environment in Antarctica in highest regard, and have their own guidelines already in place.  After all, the Expedition Leaders and their teams have an unswerving passion for the Antarctic, and many are leading naturalists, historians, glaciologists and ornithologists outside of Antarctic waters. 

As a whole we want to work towards raising the profile of the continent, allowing controlled numbers of passengers to fulfill their dream of visiting the world’s last true wilderness whilst also educating visitors about the dangers of global warming.  Visitors carry their experiences back home and share their knowledge with others, also they are often keen to support charities such as the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust or the Scott Polar Research Institute.

Without doubt, tourism is increasing in Antarctica - it’s the larger cruise liners that are making their way down to Antarcticawhich concern IAATO and it's smaller responsible voyage operators. If only it could be kept to a limited number of small ex-research and expedition vessels whereby passengers can be closely monitored and the environment can be preserved…

Christine McGourty points out that the larger vessels (carrying around 1000 passengers) are not specifically designed to sail in polar conditions and are more difficult to manoeuvre in ice than smaller ships. IAATO is a self-governing body which issues strict regulations concerning tourism in Antarctica – an example of which being that no more than 100 visitors can be landed at one time. Unfortunately, this simply means that larger ships simply land batches of people in rotation over the course of a day. The largest vessel that Discover the World offer is the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, which carries max. 112 passengers.  The ‘KK’ as she is fondly known, is often used to transport scientists or vital equipment to the research bases in the Ross Sea.

Bernard Stonehouse of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge has been leading a group looking at the impact of tourism on Antarctica for the last 12 years. He said: "Although there's a lot of apprehension about what tourists might be doing, we found very, very little evidence of anything that's positively detrimental to the environment."   One of the locations which is key to research is the British Antarctic Survey’s historical base, Port Lockroy, on the Antarctic Peninsula.

People will always want to visit Antarctica – and a polar expedition voyage is without doubt the trip of a lifetime for many (myself included!).  Now that the continent has opened up to visitors realistically there is no stopping tourism there, but it does need to be controlled and limited, and monitored closely.  Without doubt, the smaller vessels are the best way to travel – both for passengers and the environment. 

Comments

[Jess]

i like your site and it helped me with an assignment i had to do at school so thankyou :~)

[casey]

heya i would like to no heaps on the antartic

[nachoarena]

i have find your blog by chance
a beautiful design and what an images!
it is really interesting but maybe a bit frozen for me
;D

congratulations from spain.

Nacho Arena

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