Penguin tourists trample on ice
Sunday November 22 2009
'PENGUIN cruise tourists trapped in sea ice,' read the news story headline. This time the vessel was a Russian icebreaker, the Kapitan Khlebrnikov, which takes passengers through the icebergs of the Antarctic's Weddell Sea to Snow Hill Island rookery to watch emperor penguins. There were 105 people on board, including a BBC crew filming a nature documentary. Eventually, over a weekend, the ice gave way.
Last year 154 sightseers and crew of a cruise vessel, the Explorer, had to be rescued when the ship sank after hitting an iceberg. The terrified people drifted for hours in lifeboats, in darkness. Thankfully, no lives were lost. Concern remains that such tourist cruises will eventually cause irremediable damage to the region, the world's last great wilderness.
Wealthy people, about 30,000 this year, four times the numbers of 10 years ago, are travelling to look at penguins, seals and seabirds. Many are now gazing at the icy landscapes not only from medium-sized former research vessels that can carry about 200 people, but from enormous liners ploughing through the pristine waters as part of lengthy world cruises.
Last year the 100,000 tonne Golden Princess became the biggest cruise ship to sail into the region with 3,700 passengers and crew. This ship is a floating palace with five swimming pools, a casino and a putting green, and fares average about €3,500 a head. Other luxury liners pass through, but one positive side is that they do not land any sightseers which is not the story with smaller tour ships which can disembark groups that disturb wildlife, trample rare mosses and lichens and leave rubbish in their wake, causing general damage to a unique ecosystem.
In 1961, an international treaty designated Antarctica as a world natural reserve. Last year the treaty group called for a ban on vessels entering waters where ice coverage is more than 10 per cent without specially strengthened hulls. A ban on landings from ships with more than 500 passengers was also sought. But there is no proper system of regulation enforcement.
Global warming has seen temperatures rise in the region by three degrees centigrade in the past 30 years. This has resulted in glacier melt and ice shelf collapse. Antarctic tourism is policed by a body called the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators which says it is not worried by cruise liners as they don't get close enough to land to run aground and also sail in ice-free waters. It is the smaller ships that have caused the problems. Glossy magazine advertising for them boasts of their unique tailor-made wildlife adventures.
Opinion is divided on approval of such enterprises, The brochures look attractive and promise adventure, sometimes costing €4,500 to follow in the footsteps of Shackleton, for example. It is practically the same for safari trips to African, South American and Asian destinations. I must admit there have been times when I could have been tempted to look out on a wildnerness from a position of safety and comfort and perhaps have followed in someone or other's footsteps. Now I must plead old age and poverty. And I could think of better ways to spend a holiday than being stuck in sea ice!
Sunday Independent
