Posts Tagged ‘Antarctica travel’
May 7th, 2010
Tiny penguins who are looking dapper and formal waddle about their land, sliding around their slippery, muddy, rocky rookeries in numbers that reach in the thousands.
The penguins vigilantly care for their nests, and the chicks that may be in them, by chasing away nosey neighbors, skuas and seals. When not doing this, they spend their time fixing their feathers.The little brown balls of fluff constantly chatter at their parents, demanding food.Penguins parents were designed to feed. When the mother gets back from feeding in the ocean, they parents perform a ritual dance of bows and pecks and then the father takes his turn feeding. Contact this website if you require information on antarctica travel packages.
Penguins aren’t nearly as adorable as people usually believe.They smell bad, they’re loud, and they can be very pushy.Nevertheless, people still travel to Antarctica just for the chance to be close to these flightless birds.
There’s more to Antarctica than just penguins, though.A gorgeous background of sea and landscapes hosts animals like whales, dolphins and seals, as well as seabirds like albatross. You’ll see glaciers which point sharply upwards, mimicking the grand cathedrals found in Europe.There is also the rush you can get from visiting a place that only a handful of people have ever been before. Antarctica is truly this planet’s last frontier.
Getting to the continent is a major section of the adventure.You can expect the trip to be exciting, as well as expensive. If leaving from the United States, the air travel just to get to a southern port alone, like Ushuaia, Argentina, is going to take at least 20 hours. You could also choose to fly into Punta Arenas, Chile or Cape Town, South Africa. Christchurch, New Zealand is another point at which you could then catch an ice-rated expedition cruise ship.Ships remain the only way to reach the continent, and it takes many days of extremely rough seas.Further information on antarctica vacation can be found there.
Bigger than the United Statesand Mexico together, the continent of Antarctica is a land which is surrounded by ice shelves that are larger in area than North America, and it provides the Earth with over 70% of the fresh water of the entire planet. You can take a cruise from ten to twenty-eight days in length.Ships usually host somewhere between 75 and 200 passengers.These ships also tend to be more informal than the usual cruises that travel the Mediterranean or Caribbean.You?ll be regaled by lectures and slideshows of Antarctica instead of lured to the casino.
Once you are close enough to the continent, the ships will provide rafts that take the passengers to land that is close to penguin rookeries or scientific research stations where you can learn more about what the scientists are studying in the Antarctic.
Only five countries have research facilities on the continent. They are the original countries who participated in signing the international agreement on Antarctica. This makes the continent a haven for scientific study by requiring it stay commerce, nuclear and border ?free.
Such tourism strikes various individuals as a big mistake.One option of tourism was stopped in 1979 with the crash of a DC-10. All 257 people on board lost their lives, and no more flyovers were allowed.Environmentalists worry that tons of tourists will endanger Antarctica?s fragile ecosystem. They fear ski-wielding tourists visiting in droves to see the wildlife.Environmentalists, politicians, and scientists all debate Antarctic tourism.They all want to keep Antarctica safe.The second argument states that most tourists who have seen Antarctica first hand come out with a new attitude on protecting the environment.
Currently, Antarctic tourists are not regulated.Eco-tourism?s basic ideas do hold true for those visiting Antarctica.Don’t bother any native elements, only take photos, and don’t leave anything behind but footprints.You should choose clothes that can be layered.Although most of the ships will give you down filled parka jackets, you are going to have to bring your own waterproof boots and plenty of socks. Make sure you have your camera. Also make sure you?ve packed your sunglasses and strong sunscreen. You can?t run to the corner convenience store in Antarctica.
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March 26th, 2010
Antarctica and all of its emperor penguins, leopard seals, blue whales, and towering mountains have been set aside for protection under international agreements. This agreement was enacted in 1998, and makes mining and drilling on one the of the globe’s most frigid areas for natural resources illegal for a period of 50 years.It has been agreed that this continent be used for conservation and science, not for development.Dogs and pesticides are prohibited by these policies, including other threats to the wildlife.
The agreement in question is titled the Environmental Protection Protocol to the Antarctica Treaty.Essentially, this means that all of the countries in the world have agreed to set aside one area that is not commercialized or industrialized.Approval was gained in 1991 by the twenty-six leading countries having scientific interests in the area, including the United States, Russia, China, India, Japan, Argentina, Brazil and most of the main European countries.To find antarctica travel adventures information see this resource.
The treaty stopped the arguing that was going on for more than 15 years about regulating the area.The rules banned oil drilling and mining. It requires that the nations who run Antarctica’s 35 scientific research outposts clean out their garbage dumps.The scientific outposts and cruise ships are prohibited from the disposal of raw sewage into the sea around Antarctica.
When the first person to reach the South Pole, Roald Amundsen, got there in 1911, he got around the continent with sled dogs.The accord, however, prohibits any dogs on the continent, as penguins and other native fowl have been killed by pets belonging to researchers.Pesticides, polystyrene packaging, and non-sterile soil are also forbade.
The land is beneath an ice layer which averages one mile in thickness and supports only limited plant life, such and moss and grasses close to the shoreline.Almost three-quarters of the Earth’s fresh water is in the Antarctic ice.Many kinds of sea life also live in or near Antarctica.If you want more comprehensive info on adventure antarctica tours that site will help you.
Antarctica is a very fragile ecosystem.With its air temperature continuously below zero, any growth is extremely slow.Recovering from trauma can take years.You might see the same footprint you left ten years ago still around today.
The original treaty, which was signed in 1959, also banned any military activity and nuclear testing near the Arctic area. In addition, it decreed that Antarctica did not belong to any one country, and made stipulations for land use.No one nation can claim all of Antarctica but every inch is claimed some country.
Once scientists learned in the early 1980’s that oil, coal, gold, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, uranium and more were present in and around Antarctica, environmental entities started to pressure their governments for regulation of land use.During the energy crisis of the 1970s, some companies began discussions on the feasibility of drilling in Antarctica.With the price of oil going up and technology becoming more advanced, it’s possible that further interest will be felt.
Each of the 26 nations involved will enforce the rules on their own.If the country’s government refuses to intervene when its citizens violate the rules, the other nations would apply pressure to solve the issue.This agreement has been considered a success story for the environment by a lot of people.
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March 17th, 2010
Antarctica is a one of a kind land that is both beautiful and brutal.It remains the only continent in the world that has never seen the face of war.However, even though Antarctica encompasses a larger area than the United States and Europe together, violent deaths are more common that those by natural causes, as the temperatures are too low to accommodate most germs.
Today Antarctica is a place where people from various countries, and conflicting political views, can come together to work in harmony, warmth, and comfort, while outside the labs are temperatures of 100 degrees below which could kill them within seconds.This cold land produces one of the more voracious appetites where Americans can consume four whole meals a day and not see any weight gain whatsoever due to the low temperatures.
Also, a special type of illness called the “Big Eye” afflicts many of the population. Due to the long days and 3-am sunshine, many people find it very difficult to sleep.Bombastically the people who live in the Antarctic claim the rights to being part of the 300 Degree Club.It holds claim to the cheapest and southernmost bar on the planet, located at the South Pole. Here it is possible to get a 12 year old scotch or a cognac for the same exact price and still have a huge bar tab by the time you are ready to leave.The nights end in September. Why a month instead of an hour count? That’s because the night’s begin in April.antarctica cruise adventures
Even though the heartland of this continent has a 9,000-foot shield of moving ice, it is believe to hold enough oil, gas, and coal to heat the entire world.Lacking most laws, ones that it does have is quite peculiar, not a single fugitive could be arrested. If capable of surviving such harsh environments and temperatures a criminal would have massive valleys and mountain ranges to hide in.
Even though it has such a lack of laws, Antarctica actually has the lowest rate of crime out of any continent on the world.Even if a murder had been preformed in Antarctica, it has not once been prosecuted, so who knows exactly what happens there.No international laws or treaties are in place to stop a murderer, anywhere on this vast land.Recommended Antarctica Cruises
Even though more than ten nations work in the Antarctic, no one actually owns any of the continent.No effort to establish a long term colony in this primitive land has yet been mounted, and even so, the South Pole is home to the most complex scientific instrumentation and computers.
Even though they are only temporary, its inhabitants account for the greatest per capita IQ on earth.As a matter of fact there are more people on this continent that have university degrees than simple high school diplomas.The scientific knowledge on the continent exceeds that of any university, and the climate of the research is more peaceful than can be found in any capital on earth.Unlike any other land mass in the world, no nuclear experiments of any kind can take place on this continent.
It has the most stringent environmental protection of all the land masses.Because of the slaughtering that both sealers and whalers did nearly a century ago, you need a special type of licenses in order to kill animals.Present day Antarctica is the playground of the world’s top scientists who are strenuously involved in keeping it pristine.
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February 15th, 2010
In all parts of Antarctica, countries whose primary industry is whaling, claimed large portions of land.On the Peninsula, three nations claims overlie each other. Making the Peninsula shared by Britain, Argentina, and Chile.Claims to Antarctica have also been declared by New Zealand, Australia, France, and Norway.
Even Nazi Germany wanted to have a piece of the Antarctica pie when they planted stakes with 3rd Reich swastikas on them all over the frozen land.With the world pre-occupied by WWII, Antarcitica found itself alone except for the whalers who came to hunt the great animals.However, science would soon be motivated by celestial events to return to Antarctica.
Sunspot movement became prevalent in the years 1957 and 1958, so nations all across the globe began getting ready for the International Geophysical Year. Antarctica became a focal point due to its one-of-a-kind visibility of a clear spot in the magnetic field of the Earth in which they could examine it while it was being assaulted by solar radiation.The continent was soon home to a 67 country coalition of science personnel.The scientists worked so well together, that they were able to pave the way for the Antarctic Treaty, which turned out to be an amazing accord.antarctica travel experience
This treaty sets preserves and saves Antarctica for the sole purpose of peaceful research, and was signed in 1959 by countries that had key, vested interests in the continent.Nuclear experimentation was prohibited, as was the discarding of the radioactive waste generated.The only permissible activity of the military here, was to help in the coordination of scientific exploration.Any territorial claims that caused conflicts between countries were just ‘put on a shelf’ and labeled as an issue.
Although the Cold War wasn’t widely known as a time of cooperation, the superpowers dropped all claims, and ignored those of their ally nations, but made known their belief that their claim would still be valid at some future time.This agreement made it difficult for less powerful nations to assert their claims.antarctica vacation
By the time the 1960s and 70s rolled around, various industries and governments began expressing a desire for the possible gas, oil, and minerals that could be contained in or around Antarctica.National bases began to spring up on the peninsula and nearby islands, and peak population still occurs in the summer with around 5,000 people who tend to fill up the dozens of science stations built like urban sprawl on the peninsula and some of the islands.
It was during the 1960’s and 1970’s that Poland, Chile, Argentina, Britain, Italy, the United States, and the Soviet Union began setting up bases on King George Island. It was not until the1980’s that china, South Korea, Brazil, Uruguay, and Peru officially started their bases.Although these sites were involved in genuine scientific research, they also served as political symbols like the stakes the Nazis had dropped in the 40’s.In other words the bases also allowed each country to create “squatters rights.”
However, by the time the 1980’s rolled around, the use of Antarctica moved toward scientific research and retracted from using the continent for its resources.So now the Antarctic joins with the oceans in being defined as communal property belonging to the entire world.The Halley Antarctic base that was established by Great Britain was responsible for discovering the ozone layer, and they demonstrated how its degradation is promoted by the earth’s industrial activity, allowing damaging UV radiation to pass through.
This discovery began the discussions for an international agreement in 1987 that would ban the use of ozone-depleting chemicals from being used by the end of the 1990’sThis put Antarctica back on the map because the scientific research conducted at this location on Earth gave people a better view of how industry was changing Earth structurally and physically.The Green movement was largely responsible for rejection of whaling in the 1980’s and protection of the continent.
The same countries that signed the Antarctic Treaty, decided to disallow the removal of natural resources such as gas and oil from Antarctica for the next 50 years, and possibly longer. They also decided to make environmental issues equal to scientific issues.Antarctica is important today as it was during it’s hey-day because instead of being exploited and ruined in the name of wealth and greed, it’s teaching us how those very things that marked progress are creating a very unstable world. Hopefully, through the studies conducted we will be able to learn how to reverse some of those issues and challenges we will face in the future.
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February 8th, 2010
A hundred years ago or so, a whaling ship known as the Antarctic came to a halt off the volcanic, wind-battered coast and sent one of their longboats through the through the rough ocean of the Ross Sea to reach the shore.On January 24, 1895, Captain Leonard Kristensen and the landing party of the “Antarctic” left the first trace of human kind on the frozen continent in their quest to slaughter whales in these, as yet, unclaimed waters.
Antarctica proceeded to be baptized with blood.While seals were being slaughtered for their fur, whales and penguins were being killed for their oil which was then used to grease the machinery developed during the Industrial Revolution.It was on Macquarie Island that countless penguins were rounded up and forced up planks that lead into large pots of boiling oil so that they would fall in and add their own oil to the mix.
However, after 100 years of journeys to this Frozen Continent, humans have decided to stop using it to make a quick buck by killing the animals and have chosen to make Antarctica into a preserve of nature and science.There is even discussions about making a world park on this continent.For science, Antarctica serves as a base for studying pollutant threats that affect the whole world, including ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect.The change to preservation was extraordinarily fast when you think about how short of a time people actually spent exploring Antarctica.Small areas of the coastline, some trails to the South Pole and a few islands were explored up until 1958.antarctic cruise
From the very first, the appearance of men on this continent has resulted in a convoluted story of nationalism, aggression, idealism, and unchecked slaughter, with sporadic, cavalier attempts toward scientific research.Whaling was stepped up in World War I, as refined oil was used to make glycerin for artillery shells.Jet engines required extra-fine oil as a lubricant, which led the Americans and Soviets to seek out sperm whales after World War II.Up until the IGY, the majority of Antarctica was still known as “Terra Australia Incognita,” which is the name given this theoretical southern continent by the medieval map makers.
Antarctica’s first native birth has only recently reached adulthood, the birth itself having international repercussions.As a matter of fact, Emilio Marcus Palmer was born at Argentina’s Esperanza Base in 1978, where his mother was brought for the sole purpose of emphasizing Argentina’s claim to this area of Antarctic territory.antarctic cruise reviews
This was similar to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon nine years earlier and placing the American flag on the moon as a symbol of its dominance. Norway’s Roald Amundsen 1911 race to the South Pole was done explicitly to honor King Haakon VII, and make a direct claim on the territory.For the honor of the British Empire, a similar trek was made by Robert F. Scott and a team of explorers, who themselves, collected and physically hauled rock and fossil samples employing the use of sledges.
It is believed that between the discouragement felt when they found out that Amundsen reached the Pole a month sooner, eating a poor diet, having to haul the rocks and fossils, and utter bad luck caused Scott and his team to perish on the return trip, making them the first people to die in Antarctica for the sake of science.America was able to claim interest in the South Pole when Richard Byrd flew over it in 1929 in a Ford Trimotor airplane.In 1821, the soviets utilized Russian Admiral Thaddeus Bellingshausen’s voyage passed Antarctica in 1821 to justify their interests in the continent.
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February 6th, 2010
You may be surprised to know that Dallas, Texas has something in common with the South Pole: they both reach 100 degree temperatures in July.Granted, the South Pole sees temperatures of 100 degrees below zero, not above.If you were to stand outside naked, you’d be frozen in a single moment.
There are 28 people stationed at the South Pole for six months knowing that they will have no sunlight, virtually no contact with the outside world and no way to get away.This crew is responsible for operating the United States’ polar base, which includes manning the research station’s telescopes and other equipment.However, even in this frozen area so far from civilization, modern technology is leaving its mark.
Astronomers of North America until now have employed satellite communications to work the South Pole observatory’s telescope.This was the first time a South Pole telescope was controlled from a warmer continent.Eventually, it is hoped by astronomers that it will become unnecessary for people to have to man the South Pole stations at all, operating everything remotely instead.affordable antarctica tours
People on Antarctica have to deal with the coldest, driest, and windiest environments on Earth.Its elevation is the highest of the continents, making breathing sometimes difficult.It is due to the extreme cold and high altitudes that only cold-adapted plans and animals can live here. These include penguins, seals, various types of algae and tundra vegetation.
The people who accept the challenge of working through a winter in Antarctica are referred to as “winter-overs.”For entertainment, they have to rely on a large variety of videos, a small exercise room, a pool table, great food, and traditions.Typically winter-overs do not discus what occurs at the South Pole from February to October while they are isolated at the South Pole.antarctica holiday
The notable expansion of the research program at the South Pole has resulted in a constant problem regarding a shortage of electrical power. There are only three oil-burning generators which are not able to produce enough power for all the computers, telescopes, lasers, and other electrical powered equipment.However, they are not able to keep up, which causes the winter-overs to have to deal with insufficient power, as well as confined living arrangements, and cold buildings.
Traditions are fun ways to while away the hours while in Antarctica.One is the “300 Club” which requires a day where the temperature is at least 100 degrees below zero.A sauna is heated up to 200 degrees.Then they enter the sauna, run out into the -100 degree air, and return to the 200 degree sauna.
The crew also looks forward to airdrop.Every June, they receive supplies, mail and, most importantly, food, via an Air National Guard transport that drops them by the palletload.Once the drop has taken place the winter-overs face the chilling air while they rush to use heavy equipment to bring all the treats inside.That single airdrop is the most contact with another person these people get in six months of occupation.
In their stay in Antarctica, the winter-overs are never able to see a tree or go more than a mile from the pole.But everyone is provided a one week vacation at McMurdo Station, which is the main U.S. Antarctic base.While on vacation, the winter-overs can enjoy camping and frolicking on the rocky beach in jeans and t-shirts in the relatively warm 25-degree weather.
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