Antarctica: Go with the floe

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Wreck of the Brutus, deliberately beached to serve as a coal bunker for the whaling station at Prince Olav Harbour, South Georgia

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LITTLE AFTER MIDNIGHT, having finally loaded a delayed consignment of engine spare parts, MV Le Boreal slips her moorings and moves silently into the Beagle Channel. Because she is departing South America’s southernmost port of Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, and it is summer, darkness has only just descended. Next stop is the Falkland Islands, en route to the frozen fastness of Antarctica.

The French vessel and her crew have been chartered by adventure travel specialists Abercrombie & Kent for an 18-day expedition cruise.

From the Falklands she will sail out into the Southern Ocean to South 82 QANTAS OC TO BER 2011

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TOURISM ANTARCTICA

Georgia, then down to the Antarctic Peninsula before crossing the often unpredictably violent Drake Passage back to South America.

This is the land of ice and snow. Giant glaciers crawl to the sea with a cargo of ice tens of thousands of years old. Jagged pack ice can coagulate rapidly and spelt doom for many an early mariner who ventured too far south. Ice sheets stretch beyond the horizon, icebergs bigger than Belgium can float as far as Africa. Katabatic winds can sweep down from the interior at speeds up to 300km/h, causing temperatures to plummet. Blizzards can erupt without warning, stirring the loose snow into a whiteout, reducing visibility to zero.

Consequently, safety procedures are iterated and reiterated by the expedition leaders at every briefing, of which there are several every day covering various aspects of what passengers can expect to encounter in the way of wildlife and weather.

The first rule when witnessing the great southern continent of Antarctica: abandon adjectives such as “breathtaking”, “awesome”, “stunning”, “spectacular”. None of these descriptions can even begin to do it justice. All the TV documentaries and Attenborough exposure in the world can’t prepare the visitor for the sheer impact of its icy vastness, its spectral, sculpted beauty and the intense profusion and

peculiarity of its wildlife. This continent is truly the last of the relatively unexplored, untouched wild places. Humankind has made perilous forays into its rugged interior and nibbled at its continental edges, but we are only just beginning to understand the Antarctic’s sub-zero secrets and realise the overwhelming importance this unique wilderness has to the wellbeing of the planet.

Lying below a latitude of 60° south, Antarctica covers 10 per cent of the surface of the Earth. It is colder, drier and higher than anywhere else on the planet. Surrounded by a deep polar ocean, Antarctica is remote: 1000km from South America, 3500km from Africa. Despite ❯ OC TO BER 2011 QANTAS 83

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Cobalt blue iceberg at Port Charcot, Booth Island

the activities of early explorers, and the whalers and sealers who “harvested” its rich animal bounty, the Antarctic’s isolation and severe climate, particularly inhospitable in winter when temperatures can drop to -80°C, meant relatively little was known of the region until the late 1950s, when scientific exploration began in earnest.

For much of the 20th century the continent was the object of much rampant political jockeying for influence among the many nations with an economic, scientific or military interest in the region.

Fortunately, in a rare victory for commonsense, the ratification of the Antarctic Treaty in 1961 ensured the continent would be exempt from territorial sovereignty issues (seven nations – the UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Chile, Argentina and Norway – had already sustained formal claims) for the foreseeable future, and that scientific research would be of paramount importance.

The 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty imposed a 50-year moratorium on mining, protection of marine and land ecosystems, strict waste-disposal regulations and the requirement to consider all environmental-impact issues before any new activity or construction was undertaken.

Tourism is a much more recent arrival to Antarctica, the first modern tourists arriving in January 1958. Initially the “industry”

was merely a few intrepid adventurers booking passage on the icebreakers that transported men and supplies to the various research bases over the brief Antarctic summer. Conditions were by no means luxurious and, despite the Treaty flagging the possibility of designated tourist sites, that was the way things stayed for the next 30 years.

Then, in 1991, tour operators set up the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) to promote safe, environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic. Tourism is now the largest human activity on the continent.

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LTRA-CONSCIOUS OF THE need to preserve and conserve

the attraction, tour operators have strict guidelines about what shore sites can be visited and for how long. Numbers at any one time are restricted to cause minimum disruption to wildlife and habitats. A policy of “take nothing away and leave nothing behind” coupled with rigidly enforced biosecurity procedures when embarking and disembarking, ensure that the environment remains as pristine as possible. Despite being in a competitive business relationship, operators also realise the need to cooperate – for instance, the coordination of arrival times at tourist sites so that glorious isolation is not diminished by the sudden appearance of another cruise ship. ❯ OC TO BER 2011 QANTAS 85

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