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NEWS
BULK DISTRIBUTION
UNSUPPORTED TRANS-ANTARCTIC WALK PLANNED: Peter Treseder from Australia and Tim Jarvis from the U.K. have announced that they are planning to attempt to walk unsupported across Antarctica via the South Geographic Pole (SGP) in 1999-2000 in a venture called 'Operation Chillout'. Current plans by the organisers call for the two to be flown from Punta Arenas (Chile) to the Patriot Hills and on to Berkner Island by Adventure Network International (ANI) around 15 October. From there the two will man haul their supplies on sleds on the 2,700 km route to Ross Island on the opposite side of the continent. The outward leg of the journey will follow the route previously taken by Peter in a successful walk to the SGP in 1997-98, while beyond the Pole they will follow the route used by the 'Icetrek' group in 1998-99 from Ross Island. 'Chillout' will involve traversing the length of Berkner Island, crossing 160 km of the Ronne Ice Shelf, ascending the Wujek Ridge in the Dufek Massif, and proceeding through dense sastrugi to the SGP. The second leg proposes to pass via the Titan Dome and use the Shackleton Glacier to gain access to the Ross Ice Shelf, before a final 750km push across the shelf to Ross Island. The pair will be transported by Quark Expeditions from Ross Island to Hobart, Australia, on board the 'Kapitan Khlebnikov' (KK) at the end of the trek. ANI will provide SAR cover during the entire journey, and should the rendezvous with 'KK' be missed due to delays en route, will fly them from Ross Island back to Punta Arenas via the Patriot Hills. In order to meet the timetable they have set for themselves the pair will have to average over twenty kilometres a day during the three month journey. While the Australian Prime Minister has agreed to be patron to the 'Chillout' program, it is a private venture, and is being handle as such by Australian authorities. [ANAN-3/01]
'HANSEATIC' REPAIRS COMPLETED: Repairs to the expedition cruise vessel 'Hanseatic', which suffered damage to one of her two propellors while operating in the Antarctic Peninsula area last season, were finalised in Germany in July. Hapag-Llyod's 180 berth ship entered Paradise Bay via Waterboat Point early on the morning of 3 February to anchor off the Argentinian station Almirante Brown. However when an iceberg and ice floes started to drift towards the ship's position on an increasing katabatic wind the Master decided to leave the anchorage for safety reasons. While heaving anchor however problems were experienced with the pitch control of the starboard propellor. The vessel headed immediately for Ushuaia, Argentina, and later went into dry dock in Buenos Aires. According to Hapag-Lloyd, marine experts have concluded that an extremely hard piece of glacial ice, which may have contained rock, drifted between the propeller blades causing the problems experienced. The company has reported that there was no damage to the hull, the rudder or port propeller. Water depth where the incident occured was put at thirty-seven metres. As a result of the damage sustained the last two of seven planned Antarctic voyages by the ship in February and March were cancelled. Following the dry docking "Hanseatic" picked up its planned cruise itinerary from South Africa, the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Coast, North Europe and Iceland, apparently operating satisfactorally on one propeller during that time. The company says that repairs in July mean that 'Hanseatic" is now operating normally and the vessel has been scheduled her to make seven Antarctic voyages in 1999-2000 starting in Ushuaia on 29 November and finishing in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on 6 March. [ANAN-3/02]
TOURISM RELATED ACTIVITIES AT HENRYK ARCTOWSKI DESCRIBED: Details of the Polish Academy of Science's attempts to minimise the impact of the increasing number of tourist visitors to Henryk Arctowski station on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands were outlined in a recent edition of the journal Polish Polar Research (JPPR). Information provided by the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) and collated by the U.S. National Science Foundation, indicates that 850 tourists went ashore at Arctowski over twelve visits in the 1998-99 season (850/12), while in 1997-98 and 1996-97 the numbers were 888/11 and 1,534/20 respectively. The JPPR article, by Dr Bernard Stonehouse of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, U.K., says that Polish authorities have established a range of walking routes in the vicinity of the station, prepared illustrated guides for zodiac cruises in the immediate area, and established a visitor interpretation centre on site. The work carried out involved topographical and ecological mapping and developing a more precise boundary for the adjacent Site of Special Scientific Interest number 8 to try and minimise the potential impact of tourists on sensitive areas. Further tourism-related research is expected to continue at the station and its general neighbourhood over the next few years. Full details of the work can be obtained in 'Polar Polish Research', Volume 20, pages 65-75. [ANAN-3/03]
'KAPITAN DRANTISYN' VOYAGES NOT OPERATING: Quark Expeditions of the United States will not operate the voyages planned for the 'Kapitan Drantisyn' (KD) in the South Atlantic sector of Antarctica in 1999-2000. The 102 berth sister ship to the 'Kapitan Khlebnikov' (KK) was originally advertised as making four voyages this season, one from Stanley in the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands, and the others from Ushuaia, Argentina, between 26 November and 4 February. It is understood that over expectations for the Millennium is the prime reason for the vessel's non-operation. The four journeys cancelled included: one to the South Sandwich Islands (SSI), the Princess Martha Coast (PMC) along the south-east edge of the Weddell Sea, South Orkney Islands, Elephant Island and the Antarctic Peninsula; two to the Peninsula and adjacent areas; and the last to the islands of the Scotia Arc and the Peninsula region. The visits to the SSI and PMC area were the only ones planned to those places by a tourist ship in the coming season. 'KD' and 'KK' (which is operating in the Ross Sea region in 1999-2000), are the only vessels in the current Antarctic tourist fleet capable of working in the heavy ice conditions normally found in the Weddell Sea region. Visits were to have been attempted by 'KD' along the length of the PMC, including Cape Norvegia, the No Name and Atka Bay Emperor penguin colonies, and Germany's Neumayer station. The third of the four voyages had been sub-chartered to the Australian company Aurora Expeditions for an international schools expedition, however that program has now been transferred to the "Baron Von Wrangel" (see ANAN-2/5 of 18 August 1999). [ANAN-3/04].
LARGE ICEBERG IN THE DRAKE PASSAGE REGION: The United States' National Ice Centre (NIC) in Washington D.C. reported on 17 August that a large iceberg has entered Drake Passage between the Antarctic Peninsula and South America, the prime area for tourist voyages to the continent. The iceberg, named B-10A, is some 40 x 80 km in size and the Centre is concerned that it could pose a hazard for mariners in the region. Smaller icebergs are breaking off of B-10A as it moves into relatively warmer water and as a result NIC has established a 'cautionary zone' within 250 km of the centre point of the berg. On 27 August B-10A was located in the vicinity of Latitude 60 South, Longitude 59 West. This position is around 100 km north of Elephant Island, and that island, King George Island and B-10A are all visible in a single infrared satellite image available at NIC's web site at: http://www.natice.noaa.gov/whatsnew.htm. B-10A has been estimated recently to be drifting generally south-east at between ten and sixteen kilometres per day, although the general trend over the last few months has been towards the north-east. Known positions are up-dated on the NIC site only when the berg can be seen on satellite images. The NIC says that its ability to track the berg depends on cloud-free images being received, a rare event in those latitudes. Position up-dates will therefore probably only be available at no more than two-week intervals. A single Radarsat image of B10 is also available at the web site, however up-dates of this image are not anticipated. B-10, the "parent" iceberg from which B-10A formed, calved from the Thwaites Ice Tongue in the Amundsen Sea to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula over a decade ago. NIC has been tracking B-10 since January 1992 and in mid-1995 it broke into two pieces, the larger being named B-10A and the smaller drifting west in the pack ice zone and eventually becoming too small to warrant tracking. The presence of the iceberg over the next six months is likely to provide additional interest to tourist and other ships visiting the Drake Passage, Scotia Arc, region. NIC is a tri-agency operational agency with representation from the U.S. Navy, NOAA, and the U.S. Coast Guard. It's mission is to provide worldwide operational sea ice analyses and forecasts for a variety of governmental and civil clients. [ANAN-3/05]
TOURISM DEGREE TO INCLUDE ANTARCTIC COMPONENT: The University of Tasmania, in Hobart, Australia, has announced that it plans to include a wilderness and Antarctic component in its three-year Bachelor of Tourism (BTourism) course when it commences in the 2000 academic year next March. The two components will make up a quarter of the second and third years of the degree and will be available from 2001. According to the University the BTourism is designed to provide an overview of tourism as a field of human activity, introduces students to the key areas of academic knowledge and provides skills with vocational relevance. [ANAN-3/06]
U.S. NON-GOVERNMENT OPERATORS FILE 1999-2000 EIAs: The United States' Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) in Washington D.C., which is responsible for evaluating Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) prepared by U.S. non-government operators planning to conduct operations in Antarctica, has received documentation for a number of operations proposed for the 1999-2000 season. They are: Holland America Line, Westours of Seattle, Washington; Oceanites of Chevy Chase, Maryland; Orient Lines from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.; IAATO for eight operators (7 previous, one new) in the Peninsula Area; and Quark Expeditions for their Ross Sea voyages with the "Kapitan Khlebnikov". The EPA currently anticipates receiving one additional assessment in the next few weeks. US based operators are required to file their EIAs with the EPA ninety days before their planned departure date for Antarctica. There is a provision however for waiving the deadline and operators who anticipate problems are advised to contact Joseph Montgomery or Katherine Biggs at montgomery.joseph@epa.gov or biggs.katherine@epa.gov respectively. [ANAN-3/07]
INTEREST IN 2003 ANTARCTIC TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE: A total solar eclipse of the Sun is due to occur over East Antarctica in late 2003 and interest is growing in it amongst eclipse specialists in observing the phenomenon in the region's clear air; especially since the 11 August event over Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia. Totality in 2003 is predicted as commencing south-east of Heard Island in the South Indian Ocean at 2219 UTC on 23 November (which locally is around sunrise the next day). Landfall on the Antarctic coast is at Russia's Mirny station then the zone of totality curves inland over the high plateau of Antarctica crossing near Japan's Dome Fuji facility (Latitude 77 South, Longitude 40 East), before exiting the continent in the vicinity of Maitri and Novolazerevskya stations (India and Russia respectively). Totality at Mirny is predicted at lasting just under two minutes, while a point some 300 km south-south-west of that station is where the longest period of totality, one minute fifty-seven seconds, will occur. No detailed plans for viewing the eclipse have been developed by the groups interested as yet, however at least one is looking for sponsors to fund an expedition which, in addition to general observations, proposes to provide a live broadcast of the event on the internet. The last total solar eclipse exprienced in Antarctica was on 12 November 1985, although little of the continent experienced it, and the first after 2003 is not until 4 December 2021. [ANAN-3/08]
RECENT RESEARCH FINDINGS (A non technical summary of a recent scientific publication of relevance): Recent research by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) conducted at Port Lockroy in the Antarctic Peninsula suggests that disturbance from tourists has not had a major influence on breeding populations of Gentoo penguins in the area. The study found that the survival and mass of penguin chicks from a colony visited by tourists was no different to that of chicks from a colony receiving no visitors. The number of chicks reared per pair was similar at visited and unvisited colonies, and was also similar to previously reported values at an undisturbed Antarctic Peninsula site. The Port Lockroy study showed that at colonies visited by tourists, more penguins laid single-egg clutches compared with penguins in non-visited colonies. However, the difference was unlikely to be related to tourist disturbance, since most of the tourist visits occurred after laying, there were no differences in the proportions of single chick broods and in the following season few penguins in any colony laid single-egg clutches. Unusually heavy snow accumulation in the winter preceding the study was thought to be the main reason for the higher incidence of single-egg clutches, and since the tourist visited colonies were low lying, they may have been particularly affected. The work was conducted in a successful breeding season for the Gentoos and more research is needed to determine if the penguins are vulnerable to disturbance during a naturally poor breeding season. However, examination of the long-term population trend indicates that Gentoo numbers are increasing at Port Lockroy despite a high and increasing number of tourists visiting the area. Further penguin monitoring work is to be undertaken at Port Lockroy during the 1999-2000 season. Continued monitoring is important in determining the impacts of tourism in Antarctica as Port Lockroy is now the most visited site in the region, receiving more than 5,700 visitors in 1998-1999. The authors of the study are Drs Norman Cobley and John Shears of BAS. It is published in "Polar Biology", volume 21, page 355-360 and is titled: 'Breeding performance of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) at a colony exposed to high levels of human disturbance'. For further information about the penguin monitoring study contact Dr. Norman Cobley at BAS, email: ndco@pcmail.nerc-bas.ac.uk [ANAN-3/09]
IN BRIEF: [1] Bids for tourist visits to Macquarie Island in the 2000-01 season closed on 31 August (see ANAN-2/8 of 18 August 1999). The Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service (TPWS) in Hobart, Australia, has received strong interest in visits and will be liaising with those who have expressed interest prior to final allocations being made. [2] Australian pilot Dick Smith is currently examining the possibility of flying a ski-wheeled equipped Cessna Caravan aircraft from either Punta Arenas (Chile) or Ushuaia (Argentina) to the Jones Ice Shelf area of the Antarctic Peninsula next season to visit the grave of pilot Giles Kershaw. Both men flew around much of Antarctica in 1987-88 in Smith's Twin Otter aircraft, and Giles, one of Antarctica's most accomplished pilots, was killed flying in the area a few years later. Should the flight proceed an environmental impact assessment will be forwarded to Australian authorities for evaluation. [ANAN-3/10]
PEOPLE: Dr Thomas Bauer, who has been involved in Antarctic tourism research for the past eight years, has moved to Hong Kong where he is Assistant Professor in the Department of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Polytechnic University. Previously he was at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. [ANAN-3/11]
COMING MEETINGS: 25-28 June 2000. IAATO annual meeting. Hobart, Australia. ##ANAN-3 Ends.
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