What attracts people to Antarctica?
How has tourism created problems in Antarctica?
"The ecosystems in extreme environments are usually delicately balanced, because it's so difficult for life to survive in the harsh conditions there. The presence of tourists can upset this fragile balance and cause serious problems. It will take a long time for Antarctica to recover from damage "
Growing Numbers of TouristsThe number of tourists visiting Antarctica each year is rising. In the 1996/1997 season there were 7413 tourists but in the 2007/2008 season there were 46,000 tourists. Numbers are expected to more than double over the next 10 years.
Without measures in place to protect Antarctica all the negative impacts will only get worse in the future. Therefore damaging one of the only untouched landscapes left. |
Unique Wildlife
Tourists disrupt animals, especially from trying to get too close and touching them. This can lead to them scaring the animals away from breeding grounds where they have lay their eggs.
Tourists also damage the unique wildlife by standing on the plants that animals feed on therefore damaging the food chain. One example is lichen than many animals feed off and is shown on the image right. |
Cruise Ships
Impact from Growing Numbers of Tourists
The more people there are the greater their impact will be.
This could include more littering, pollution and damage to the environment.
Cruise ships are getting bigger to accommodate more passengers. The bigger ships will make room for more tourists but also bring bigger problems. There is a possibility that one of the large ships could create an accident by hitting the ice, sinking and discharging large amounts of oil. The larger ships have a more disastrous impact because the oil they use is heavier and their hull is less well protected. More tourists will also result in more litter, including anything from food wrappers to leaving their whole camera behind; which will impacts on the wildlife, if the litter is mistaken for food. |
How is tourism managed?
SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest): SSSIs area areas that tourists are not able to visit, an
example is Bird Island which is on South Georgia. SSSIs have been set up to
protect precious wildlife and landscapes that would be damaged if people
visited.
IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators): IAATO stands for International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators and 100 companies are involved. The IAATO sets guidelines about how tourists and tour operators should behave but none of them are mandatory (which means followed by law). For example, tourist ships must discharge all their waste materials well away from shore; however ocean currents can always bring the waste towards the land with the tide. Furthermore, they have just developed a permit system which means that any operator must have a permit to bring tourists to the Antarctic continent. The permit means no ship carrying more than 500 passengers can land but people think that they will extend this number in the future as the tourist numbers demanding to go will grow.
Tour Guides: A successful method to protect Antarctica from tourists is to make sure that tourists are always supervised by a tour guide. This would ensure that the guidelines set by IAATO are implemented, however this is not mandatory so does not always happen.
Lectures: These lectures give rules like – ‘stay more than 5m away from the penguins at all times’, ‘don’t drop litter’ and ‘do not walk on the lichens’. The lectures are most successful when they are delivered to small groups at a time.
IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators): IAATO stands for International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators and 100 companies are involved. The IAATO sets guidelines about how tourists and tour operators should behave but none of them are mandatory (which means followed by law). For example, tourist ships must discharge all their waste materials well away from shore; however ocean currents can always bring the waste towards the land with the tide. Furthermore, they have just developed a permit system which means that any operator must have a permit to bring tourists to the Antarctic continent. The permit means no ship carrying more than 500 passengers can land but people think that they will extend this number in the future as the tourist numbers demanding to go will grow.
Tour Guides: A successful method to protect Antarctica from tourists is to make sure that tourists are always supervised by a tour guide. This would ensure that the guidelines set by IAATO are implemented, however this is not mandatory so does not always happen.
Lectures: These lectures give rules like – ‘stay more than 5m away from the penguins at all times’, ‘don’t drop litter’ and ‘do not walk on the lichens’. The lectures are most successful when they are delivered to small groups at a time.