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				ANTARCTICA: THE LAST UNSPOILED 
				WILDERNESS NO MORE

				24.03.2013

By Tourism-Review
					
					

						Antarctica has hosted a century of expeditions and 
						exploration, from Roald Amundsen to modern races to the 
						South Pole. These visits have been popularized in books 
						and movies. Long the purview of scientists and 
						adventurers, Antarctica is seeing a new type of visitor 
						– the adventure tourist.

						Tourism to Antarctica arguably started in the 1970s. 
						When a New Zealand airplane filled with tourists crashed 
						into Mt. Erebus and all 257 people on board were killed. 
						Tourism was halted for nearly a decade.

						In the 1980s, about 2,000 visitors a year arrived in 
						Antarctica. A decade ago, most tourists to Antarctica 
						comprised of retirees resting on cruise ship decks, 
						watching the glaciers, penguins and occasional whale. 
						They rarely set foot on land. The few who did go on land 
						took pictures of the ice fields and penguins.

						They visited historic sites like old whaling stations or 
						research stations. McMurdo Station is the largest 
						settlement on the continent. It has been built to handle 
						up to 1,200 people. In contrast, New Zealand's Scott 
						Base only sleeps 90 people. They are scientific research 
						stations, but both sites host tourists and have gift 
						shops.

						Tourism dropped in the years since the 2007 financial 
						market collapse, when the number of tourists peaked at 
						46,000. The number bottomed out at about 27,000 
						visitors. Cruise ships still pass through like the two 
						cruise ships that regularly visit Ross Island. About 
						9,900 visitors travelled through Antarctic waters last 
						year.

						However, tourism has rebounded. Furthermore, the nature 
						of the tourism has changed. Tourists are coming onto 
						shore en masse. Flights over Antarctica resumed in the 
						1990s. And in a growing number of ventures, tourists are 
						scuba diving through the pristine waters and under ice, 
						driving across glaciers and even sky diving and 
						paragliding. You can now go water skiing off Antarctica 
						or take two and three person submarines into the frigid 
						waters. The submarines are owned by Henry Cookson 
						Adventures. However, most tourists stay on the 2% of the 
						continent that is ice free.

						International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators 
						estimates that when the November through March tourism 
						season ends, about 35,000 people would have visited 
						Antarctica. Most tourists visit during the 17 week long 
						summer when the sun never sets. Even more visitors are 
						expected next year. In contrast, there are only 4,400 
						researchers stationed at the 39 different research 
						facilities scattered across Antarctica.

						Anywhere else in the world, so few visitors would be 
						described as a slow venue. On a place previously 
						untouched by humans, every visitor has a profound impact 
						on the otherwise unspoiled continent. Exotic species 
						have become a problem to ecosystems as diverse as the 
						coral reefs of the Caribbean to the rain forests of 
						Hawaii.

						There are concerns that tourists could bring diseases or 
						seeds that could disrupt the fragile Antarctic 
						ecosystem. Then there are endless horror stories of 
						groups coming closer to animals than rules allow. Tim 
						Jarvis, an adventurer who recreated Ernest Shackleton's 
						journey, filed complex environmental impact statements 
						before making his journey. He is one of the few 
						adventurers to take such care before starting out on his 
						trip.

						While the fifty countries that have signed onto the 
						Antarctic Treaty have decided to set rules to manage 
						tourism, only two rules have been agreed upon to date. 
						And as is often the case with international treaties, 
						neither rule is actively enforced.

						Tourism has always had risks. Three skydivers above the 
						South Pole station died in 1997. Hypoxia is the most 
						likely cause of their deaths. However, hypoxia also 
						creates risks for all visitors to the ice shelf.

						The South Pole is 9,300 feet above sea level, as high as 
						many mountains. Antarctica is dry, cold and windy. There 
						are many fatalities due to accidents caused by white out 
						conditions. The last known fatalities were in 2011, when 
						a yacht carrying three people disappeared during a 
						squall. These risks are magnified in a land that lacks 
						Emergency Rooms and ready evacuation to intensive care.

						A 2004 agreement to require tourism operations to have 
						sufficient insurance to pay for rescue operations has 
						only been ratified by 11 nations. There have been 
						deaths. A Japanese crewman died in a shipboard fire in 
						2007. Searchers are often delayed until October to be 
						able to recover the dead, such as three Canadians who 
						died in January.

						Human visitors also introduce risks to the wilderness 
						itself. Every ship is a possible oil spill. In light of 
						this hazard, the UN prohibited the use of heavy fuel oil 
						near Antarctica. This is one of the two hard rules in 
						Antarctica. Unfortunately, many tour ships dump bilge 
						water into the ocean. Plane crashes cause both toxic 
						chemical spills and a form of litter. This is in 
						addition to the noise pollution ships, vehicles and even 
						aircraft bring, affecting everything from the penguins 
						to the whales.

						There is a proposal to limit ships to a maximum of 500 
						tourists, but only Japan and Uruguay support it. The 
						Polar Code would require all ships in the Antarctic to 
						be strong enough to withstand sea ice, but this standard 
						probably won't go into force until 2014.

						The beauty of Antarctica is its rugged and pristine 
						vistas, wildlife and untamed and barely charted seas. It 
						is not surprising that so many want to see it 
						themselves. Yet we must do more to protect the land so 
						that it remains so, or Antarctica as the last unspoiled 
						wilderness will be no more.
 

			

This journey encompasses the Arctic and sub-Arctic landscapes from Greenland to northern Quebec, Labrador’s Torngat Mountains and coastal Newfoundland.

In Greenland we’ll explore deep-cut fjords, dramatic icebergs, colourful houses and thriving culture. Did you know Greenland is the birthplace of the kayaq and that in some villages there are more sled dogs than people?

Crossing Davis Strait into the Inuit territory of Nunavik, Quebec, we will be welcomed by our hosts in Kangiqsualujjuaq (George River). We’ll experience the customs and culture of this region and see the similarities between neighbouring regions.

Next we’ll reach Labrador’s stunning Torngat Mountains National Park. Torngat loosely means "place of spirits" and Inuit legend holds that in these mountains everything has a spirit.

We’ll spend the next three days exploring this mountainous region, defined by red and green rock, flowing rivers and one of the most thriving populations of polar bears in the Arctic.

Highlights south of the Torngat Mountains include the abandoned Moravian mission at Hebron, as well as L’Anse aux Meadows, the earliest known European settlement in the New World.

Our adventure ends in St. John’s, North America’s oldest city.