IS TOURISM RUINING ANTARCTICA?
What are the consequences of so many ships and tourists coming to Antarctica? As a trip to Antarctica draws to a close, and the ship heads north for the return crossing of the Drake Passage to South America, many visitors to Antarctica become pensive. The impact of the continent on visitors is often partly spiritual; they have just experienced something only a privileged few can ever hope for. Their impressions always include a sense of how vast, how unoccupied, how unsullied, how pristine Antarctica is. They see it as a frozen outpost of creation without the ubiquitous overprint of humanity seen on all the other continents. And most visitors want it to stay that way, although one still hears the occasional inquiry as to when there will be hotels and casinos in Antarctica. Inevitably I am asked, “Are we damaging Antarctica when we come here? Are we bothering the penguins and seals by inserting ourselves, however fleetingly, into their natural world?” The question is a thoughtful one, a
