I have been to Ushuaia, Argentina, on business many times, since I became president of Quark Expeditions. I’ve stood on the pier watching our fleet sail southward, regretful that I was not on deck with them anticipating the adventure. I longed to return to Antarctica.

This November I will return to Antarctica, as last! I will be aboard Emperors and Kings: Snow Hill Island and South Georgia. I’ve chosen that specific expedition for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the opportunity to travel with Robert Bateman and his wife Birgit. Bob is the world’s foremost wildlife artist and an indefatigable advocate for the environment. I am looking forward to discussing with him how Quark can strengthen its environmental commitment.

Doug Allan and his wife Sue Flood will be aboard as well. The pair has been involved in the making of some of the best Natural History documentaries ever made – Blue Planet and Planet Earth. Doug is currently involved in Frozen Planet, the sequel to Planet Earth. I can’t wait to hear the behind-the-scene stories I know the duo tells so well.

Then there are the penguins – 8 different species, including the two largest – Emperors and Kings. Never before has Quark offered an expedition that enables travelers to see Emperor and King chicks in the wild during the same voyage. That is a sight I just have to see for myself.

Kapitan Khlebnikov is a remarkable vessel with a storied history.  Equipped with Zodiacs and helicopters, she makes the inaccessible accessible. I’m proud that she is part of our fleet, and absolutely delighted to return to Antarctica aboard her.

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Since 1995 we have been working together with Thom Gilligan and his team at Marathon Tours and Travel of Boston, Massachusetts to stage a marathon event in Antarctica.  In March of 2009 the 10th Antarctic marathon took place.

All of these events have been run on roads that already exist at King George Island.  For those who aren’t familiar with this region, King George Island is one of the South Shetland Islands, and is just as beautiful as every other part of Antarctica.  An area of this island, Maxwell Bay, spans approximately 4 mi², and is home to four research bases:  China’s Great Wall Station, Chile’s Presidente Frei  Station, Russia’s Bellingshausen Station, and Uruguay’s Artigas Station.

This area of the island has been heavily impacted with roads, multiple buildings, fuel storage facilities, and various vehicles scattered about.   When I first visited Maxwell Bay in 1993 the human impact was immediately apparent.  At that time, fuel leaked from decaying storage drums, garbage and scrap metal were strewn about, and base personnel were selling articles such as whale bone and feathers – items that are protected under the Antarctic Treaty, and that we and all other IAATO members forbid our passengers from taking from shore.

It wasn’t until eco-tourists started visiting this area regularly in the mid-90’s that governments were forced to clean up their acts.  Passengers would return home and contact their government representatives to complain.  And even then it was primarily these same concerned passengers who were the first ones to clean up the bases, staying ashore for prolonged periods and loading waste on to ships to be returned to Europe.

Properly managed tourism can have a beneficial effect in environmentally sensitive regions.  In a response to my comments of May 4, 2009 on Quark’s President’s Blog, Mr. Dan L. Back of Alberta offered,“Responsible tourism and travel is at once the best watchdog to maintain natural areas while also providing economic benefit to often impoverished locals.”  Further, we believe responsible tourism can be an excellent tool to connect people across borders and cultures.  The marathons we have been operating achieve this, attracting entrants from around the world, and regularly from the four bases at Maxwell Bay to participate in events and raise global awareness about Antarctic issues.

It is hard to imagine a sporting event that could have less of an environmental impact than a marathon running race.  Using only re-useable water and food containers, and having toilet facilities whereby all waste is returned to the ships results in an impact of no more than footprints on an already well-travelled route. 

We will continue to work hard to ensure these events continue, continue to attract an international following, and continue to raise money and awareness about this extraordinary part of the world.

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Is there an element of personal risk to travel in the polar regions? Yes. Any one – or combination of – weather, ice conditions, vagaries of animal behavior, human error of either traveler or tourism professional – can result in harm to life or limb. That said, no expedition operator of repute would intentionally put their guests in harm’s way. It makes no moral or business sense!

Quark Expeditions has delivered unique itineraries to remote locations that no other company has been able to duplicate. Two reasons why are  1) our choice of vessel with which to operate the voyage and 2) the amount of time we invest in logistics to mitigate as much as humanly possible the inherent risks.

Waiting for another Titanic is the title of an article found in the February 14, 2009 issue of The Economist. The doomsayer article maintains that dire consequences are inevitable. This may be true for ill-prepared ships without ice-strengthening, but those of us in the business of operating small-ship expeditions to Antarctica know better.  Our ships are purpose built for the polar regions and our officers, crew and staff have significant polar experience. Ironically, the article noted above showed a photograph of our vessel the Kapitan Khlebnikov, the only polar-class icebreaker operating passenger voyages to Antarctica and arguably the strongest and safest ship possible for such use.

In 1991, tour operators got together to form The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), because we knew a comprehensive plan to protect the region and the people visiting it was essential to reduce negative consequences. This April at a joint meeting of Antarctic Treaty signatories and the Arctic Council the safety of travelers was furthered, by the call for making the guidelines under which IAATO members voluntarily operate binding for all that sail south of 60. Quark Expeditions welcomes the change and is pleased that regulations are catching up to the lead taken by those who know this region best.

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Can we put the growth in Antarctic tourism numbers into perspective?

Pundits have cited the rapid growth of tourism to the region, calling for a limit.  Just how many Antarctic travelers are too many?

For three days in June 2009, nearly 200,000 people will attend the Glastonbury Festival, camping on an English farmer’s field. In August 2009, 50,000 people are expected to pack the main square in the historic center of Siena to watch the annual Palio Horse Race, which lasts a few minutes. On September 21, 2009, 100,000 people will attend the opening game in the new facility built by the Dallas Cowboys. An additional 20,000 will be accommodated in the building during the 2011 Superbowl. During the 2009 Alaska sailing season, 70 ships will disembark 87,500 travelers in Seward, a community that has a permanent population of just over 3,000.

Each one of the events I have listed will impact the local environment through human waste disposal, the accumulation of trash, water consumption, carbon emissions, traffic congestion, and noise pollution.

Compare the impact of the aforementioned activities to that of visitors to Antarctica. In the 2007-08 Antarctic travel season, 46,000 adventurers visited the continent. Only about 30,000 of them actually went ashore with about 16,000 remaining aboard cruise ships well offshore.  Those who went on landings, although spread throughout the entire continent, were mostly concentrated in the Antarctic Peninsula – a region covering roughly the same size as California.

All of those visitors were subject to some of the strictest industry regulations on the planet, designed to ensure any environmental impact was minor or transitory.  A sampling of these procedures includes absolutely zero trash left ashore, including no human waste; the cleaning of boots and clothing both before and after landings to ensure that organisms are not spread and taking nothing from shore except photographs and memories.

Quark Expeditions welcomes the call to make our present industry regulations binding and enforceable by governments. We also fully support and encourage ongoing scientific research into potential human impacts in Antarctica.  Additionally, we support ongoing monitoring efforts to measure and track natural baselines in the region.  As a company that specializes in introducing and sharing this amazing part of the world with others, we are of course keenly interested in its preservation in the most pristine state possible.  But that does not mean denying future visitors.  To us it means ensuring that any visits to the region are conducted in a controlled manner by visitors who are well prepared and expertly led.

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