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Tourism in Antarctic: is this an example of tourism which respects nature? Dr Luiz Gonzaga Godoï TRIGO - Senac, Sao Paulo, Brazil
THE LONELY CONTINENT
ABSTRACT
The international tourism options have been enriched due to several factors: new transport technology, more flexible legislation, the globalization process, and political openness regarding some are areas dominated by dictatorial regimes. Antarctica is one of the new possibilities for adventure and ecological travel. It is the wildest, most well preserved and most isolated continent on the planet. About 13,000 tourists can appreciate its dazzling landscapes each austral summer and tourism has increased considerably in the region during the 1990s. This article presents a history of travel to Antarctica and an analysis of the Antarctic Treaty on tourism.
Key words: Antarctica, adventure tourism, ecotourism.
1. AN EXTRAORDINARY DESTINATION
There exists a place on Earth where the traveler can experience the hostility of nature in relation to man and the profound beauty that this nature offers to those who dare to unveil its mysteries: Antarctica.
The human presence in Antarctica is very recent, since this was the last continent to be discovered and explored. The first voyage to the Antarctic Circle was made on the 17 January 1773 by British explorer James Cook, though no land was sighted and he probably did not know that he had crossed over an important geographic border. The first well-documented sighting was made by a Russian expedition, led by Fabian Bellinghausen and Mikhail Lazarev, on 27 January 1820, when they mapped points located at 69º and 35´ South and 2º and 23´ West. Among the scientific, military and commercial explorers, those that became famous are: Nathaniel Palmer (1799-1877); James Clark Ross (1800-1862); and Robert Scott (1868-1912), who became the second man to reach the South Pole, on 17 January 1912. Ernest Schackleton (1847-1922) led one of greatest adventures, when his ship, the Endurance, was caught in ice and destroyed, leaving the group isolated from January 1915 until 1916, when everyone was rescued alive. Road Amundsen (1872-1928) became famous as the first man ro reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911. Later, several other adventurers reported details of the planet’s most inacessible continent. For decades, Antarctica has been visited only by the military, scientists and sailors, who were interested in fishing and hunting. Finally tourists became to arrive.
The first tourist flight took place on 22 December 1956, when a Lan Chile DC-6B plane left Chacabuco (Chile) and flew over the Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, thought it did not land. The first tourists to step on Antarctic territory arrived in 1957, in the pionner Pan American flight, which took off in Christchurch (New Zealand) and landed for a short period at the Mc Murdo (American) Base. Since 1977, Air New Zealand and Qantas fave been offering scenic flights to the region, which depart from New Zealand and Australia. The flights were temporarily interrupted when an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashed on the mountain-side of Mount Erebus, Ross Island, on 28 November 1979, killing all 257 people on board.
2. A WILD AND DESOLATE WILDERNESS
There are vast differences between the Northern and Southern extremes of the planet. The North, called the Arctic, is an immense frozen ocean. The South, named Antarctica, is a continent of about 14 million square kilometers, including the ice barriers that start in the continent and extend to the sea. The Antarctic represents about 10% of the planet´s landmass, it is larger than Europe or Australia. South America is in fact the closest continent to Antarctica, since their peninsulas are adjacent to each other, which means that there are only 1,000 km separating them. South Africa is 3,600 km away, New Zealand, 2,200 km, and Australia, 2,500 km. The isolation of the Antarctic continent is also due to the characteristics of the Antarctic Ocean, one of the coldest, deepest and moust tempestuous oceans.
The Antarctic is the most arid region of the planet, since there is no water, only ice. In fact, it is an immense desert, therefore travelers have to drink large amounts of water in order to avoid dehydration. It is the highest continent, with an average heigth of 2,500 meters compared to a global average of 600 meters.
The famous South Pole can be reached by a few scientists and tourists, these latter being willing to pay some tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege of photographing the Pole and visiting the North-American Base Amundsen-Scott, which is covered by a giant geodesic dome to attenuate the rigors of the climate. There are four poles in Antarctica. The Geographic South Pole, where the latitudinal line of 90º meets the longitudinal line of 180º; the Pole of Relative Inaccessibility; the Geomagnetic Pole and the Magnetic Pole, which is the only one located outside the continent at 65º South, a few miles away from the coast of Adelia´s Land. There is a strange invisible sea barrier called the Antartic Convergence surrounding the continent. This phenomenon is characterized by a drop in sea-water temperature (between 1.7º and 2.8º C) and by the fact that when the cold low saline waters that flow from South to North meet the warmer, higher saline waters that flow from North to South, they generate a slight maelstrom, favoring the oxygenation and consequent proliferation of these marine micro-organisms which are the first link in the food chain. The Antarctic Ocean is also a biological frontier, since Southwards from its border only the most adapted species can survive in the extremely inhospitable environment. The Sub-Antarctic area is characterized by a series of islets and achipelagos spread along the borders of the three oceans (Atlantic, Indian and pacific). There are 23 islands and groups of islands in total.
3. NAVIGATING TOWARDS THE ICE
Maritime tourism to Antarctica started in 1966, when Lars-Eric Lindblad began to offer regular annual trips to “The Ice”, at the beginning of the 1970s. The first passenger to operate in the region were the Lindblad Explorer (now the Explorer) and the World Discover (1975). The average price of a sea cruise to Antarctica ranges from US$ 3,500 to US$ 8,000 per person, depending on the ship, route and accommodation. The operation of all ships is carried by the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators - IAATO (www.iaato.org) and by the signatory countries of the Antarctic Treaty (signed in Washington-DC, on 1st december 1959). The IAATO, founded in 1991, has 24 full members, 12 provisional members, 20 associate members and 28 members vessels (ships) to 2003/2004 season (Antarctic summer, from december until february).
Tourists in Antarctica (only during summer, when the visit is possible according to meteorological conditions)
1997 – 1998: 9 400 tourists
1998 – 1999: 10 000 tourists
1999 – 2000: 14 762 tourists
2000 – 2001: 12 250 touristsSource : www.iaato.org
It is also possible to go to Antarctica in a private yacht or to rent a yacht in France or Australia for the voyage. It costs a lot of money and requires confidence in the crew´s knowledge of ice navigation procedures.
4. REGULATED TOURISM
The signatory States to the Antarctic Treaty, supported by several conservation organizations, adopted a series of tourism recommendations, which established the responsabilities of tourism operators and visitors.
Recommendations concerning visitors´ attitudes and behavior were gathered into a specific code of conduct named “Guidelines for tourism visiting Antarctica”, which may be condensed into 10 topics:
Avoid disturbing the flora and fauna, in particular:
- Do not touch the vegetation;
- Do not touch or frighten birds and seals;
- Do not frighten or chase birds from their nests;
- Do not walk indiscriminately among penguins and other birds.
The disposal of waste must be minimal. Every piece of waste must be kept in a special bag or wrapper in order to be taken onto the ship. Nothing must be thrown into the sea.
- Do not use hunting rifles.
- Do not introduce new animals or plants to Antarctica.
- Do not to collect eggs or fossils.
- Do not enter any Especially Protected Zone and avoid the sites of Special Scientific Interest.
In the surroundings of the scientific bases, avoid disturbing work and do not enter unnoccupied buildings or shelters, except in case of emergency.
- Not to do graffiti on rocks or buildings.
- Preserve historical monuments
- When on land, do no leave the group.
There are several reasons for all this caution and recommendations. Antarctica is a Continent that has been secluded until recently and its ecosystem is therefore very fragile and vulnerable. It enjoys a very special situation within the planet, since it is in a region that has still not been contaminated or destroyed, making it a planetary exception. Its fauna is tame and is able to withstand extreme conditions. Humans should therefore disturb the natural conditions of the region as little as possible.
5. OPERATION OF TOURISM CRUISES
A tourism operation in Antarctica requires agreements with IAATO, governmental authorizations and a series of academic, military and scientific contacts in order to ensure a safe, legally supported and successful trip. Ships that operate in the Caribbean have experience of these requirements since that region has a similar status, being a national security area of the United States Government (ships would be ideal targets for terrorism because most passengers are North-American) with rigorous environmental control in the area that reaches from the Caribbean to Canada and Alaska.
6. ANIMAL, PLANT AND HUMAN LIFE
In Antarctica there are eight species of whale, five species of seal, eight species of penguin (Imperador, Macaroni, Real, Adelia, Gentil, etc.), eight species of albatross and birds such as the petrel (more than eighteen types), gull and skua. The food for many of these animals comes from the sea in the form of krill, a small crustacean of six centimeters in length. Whales, seals, fish and marine birds eat this creature, which is very close to the basic elements of the Antarctic food chain. The terrestrial flora is rare, being almost exclusively composed of moss, fungus and algae.
A trip to the austral extremes of the planet is a unique experience. This contact with the most desolate part of the planet and the loneliness that is felt during the clear, silent rights of the strange, icy Antarctic summer overwhelm the traveler with intense and conflicting emotions. The feelling of being in a desolate and hostile place, away from all human routes on the planet, and which until about a century ago no one could reach conjures up memories of stories of adventures from a time when the planet was more mysterious, unknown and dangerous (H. P. Lovecraft, for example, wrote a famous terror history in Antarctic). Present day trips to Antarctica are surrounded by high levels of security and confort , but this does not compromise the beauty and the very special thrill of the adventure
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
The most complete text for consultation is the Lonely Planet guide (Travel Survival Kit) entitled Antarctica (Lonely Planet, Australia, 1996). The following is a small, basic technical bibliography with some addresses for obtaining further information.
Antarctic Journal of the United States
National Science Foundation – Office of Polar Programs
4201, Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22.230 – États-UnisAntarctica – The extraordinary history of man´s conquest of the frozen continent
Reader´s Digest: Sidney (Australie), 1990Geographic Names of Antarctic (1995)
United States Board of Geographic Names
U. S. Geological Survey, 523
National Center Reston, Virginia 22.092 – États-UnisCAMPBEEL, David G.
The crystal desert – Summers in Antarctica
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992CHATURVEDI, Sanjay
Dawning of Antarctica - A geopolitical analysis
New Delhi: Segment Books, 1990CROSSLEY, Louise
Explore Antarctica
Cambridge University Press;
Australian Antarctic Foundation, 1998GURNEY, Alan
Below the convergence – Voyages toward Antarctica (1699-1839)
London: Pimlico, 1998LANSING, Alfred
A incrível viagem de Shacketon
Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1989MOUNTEVANS, Admiral Lord
The desolate Antarctic
London: The Travel Club Book (121, Charing Cross Road)ROBINSON, Kin Stanley
Antarctica – A novel
London: Harper Collins, 1998SHAPIRO, Debora e BJELKE, Rolf
Time on ice – A winter voyage to Antarctica
London: Waterline Books, 1997SOPER, Tony
Antarctica – A guide to the wildlife
Bradt Pub (Royaume-Uni) ; The Globe Pequot Press (États-Unis), 1994WHEELER, Sara
Terra incógnita – Travels in Antarctica
London: Vintage, 1997Some sites
www.iaato.org (International Association of Antartica Tour Operators)
www.antarctica.ac.uk ((British Antarctic survey)
www.polarlaw.org (Antarctic Treaty Papers)
www.antdiv.gov.au (Australian Antarctic Division)
http://usarc.usgs.gov (United States Antarctic Resource Center)
Luiz Gonzaga Godoi Trigo (trigo@sp.senac.br)
Full Professor and AIEST Member
SENAC São Paulo, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas et Universidade do Vale do Itajaí (Brazil)
