Antarctica From Whaling and Sealing to Sustainability [including the Southern Ocean]

The sheer scale of Antarctica is awesome. Antarctica is a continent capped by an inland ice sheet up to 4.8km thick. This contains around 90% of the world’s total ice and over 70% of the freshwater at the surface of the Earth. Alexandra High School Geography Department

• Currently only 0.4% of the surface of Antarctica is free from snow and ice. • Antarctica is classified as a cold desert, with a snowfall equivalent to only 150mm of rain per year. Snow builds up gradually and ice flows by extrusion from the ice caps towards the coast as huge glaciers. In many places they extend out to sea as massive ice shelves. Alexandra High School Geography Department

The Southern Ocean is a continuous belt of sea surrounding Antarctica The Southern Ocean is a continuous belt of sea surrounding Antarctica. In winter over half the Southern Ocean freezes to a depth of about 1m. Much of the sea ice melts in summer thus giving a narrow window of opportunity for scientific research and tourist access.

Antarctica’s food web The Southern Ocean which encircles Antarctica forms around 10% of the world’s ocean areas. Although primary productivity of the phytoplankton is quite low by global standards, there is abundant wildlife in the Southern Ocean because of the dense swarms of millions of krill.

Emperor Penguin Antarctic cod Killer Whale Young elephant seal Alexandra High School Geography Department

Krill – the foundation of Antarctica’s marine food web Human activity, especially fishing, can cause huge impacts on the various marine species, e.g. overfishing of ice fish has a wider impact up the food chain on seals, penguins and sea birds. The hunting and subsequent loss of whales has made krill available to other predators.

Antarctica- Resource Exploitation.

Seals + Whales SEALING began in the 18th century around S Georgia – By 1800 fur seals all wiped out Interest shifted to the S Shetland Islands 300 000 seals wiped out in 3 yrs Population totally eradicated. Killed for meat + fur – dog meat fed to dog teams until they were removed in the 1960s- fears canine distemper may pass to seals

Location

Whaling Began in the 19th century Blue and Right Whales main targets Products – Oil + whalebone [baleen] Baleen or whalebone is the means by which baleen whales feed. These whales do not have teeth, but instead have rows of baleen plates in the upper jaw – flat, flexible plates with frayed edges, arranged in two parallel rows, looking like combs of thick hair. Baleen is not bone, but is composed of keratin, the same substance as hair, horn, claws and nails. Whales use these combs for filter feeding.

The Whale as an Industrial Resource Part of the whale Uses Intestines Used in scent and high quality soaps Baleen bones Corsets, umbrellas, brooms, whips & riding crops Blood Fertiliser Skin Leather for bicycle saddles, handbags, cases & shoes Natural oils Cold creams, lipsticks, shaving creams, ointments, lubricating oil, varnishes, linoleum, printing inks, margarine, cooking fat, lard Tendons Tennis racket strings, surgical stitches Meat Human food, pet food, animal feed

Decline Grytviken [S Georgia] abandoned eventually in 1965 – no longer commercially viable as stocks were being severely depleted 1946 Establishment of International Whaling Convention

Schematic Diagram of trends in the Southern Ocean Ecosystem

Whales – large areas of Antarctica have been designated whale sanctuaries. Blue and humpback whales were fully protected from the 1960s and sei and fin whales from the 1970s. In 1986 the International Whaling Commission halted all commercial whaling but Japan and Norway harvest considerable numbers for ‘scientific’ reasons. Seals – there are six species, accounting for two thirds of the world’s total. Whilst limited numbers may be culled for scientific purposes, strict international agreements govern their harvesting, including CCAS (the Convention for Conservation of Antarctic Seals). Many seals show traces of DDT and other pesticides but are thriving in record numbers.

Krill are the basis of the food chain. They are hugely in demand for farmed fish food (an expanding industry). There are growing demands for use in biotech industries. Fish – the seas around Antarctica include 100 fish species, with many of commercial importance e.g. Antarctic cod and Patagonian toothfish. Illegal long line fishing of the toothfish catches 2-5 times the legal quota, also killing hundreds of thousands of sea birds (since 1996, 140,000 albatross, 400,000 petrels). Modern techniques combined with the lucrative Far Eastern market have put pressure on the Southern Ocean.

Sustainable fisheries management Commercial fisheries in the Southern Ocean in the area south of the Antarctic convergence zone are controlled by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). The convention requires that marine living resources are managed in accordance with three important principles. (a) The single species approach whereby limits are set for harvesting species which are indefinitely sustainable. (b) The ecosystems approach whereby harvested species are considered both on their own and in relation to dependent species and the environment (c) The precautionary principle aims to develop a fishery in a controlled and sustainable fashion, with the consequences of its development on dependent species being modelled before the fishery is allowed to commence.

Minerals Coal

Minerals – Geological surveys show there may be over 9,000 major mineral deposits, but few in ice free areas. The world’s largest coalfield lies in the Transantarctic Mountains. US researchers believe there is oil in the continental shelf. However, under the terms of the 1998 Antarctic Environmental Protocol, any activity related to mineral resource exploitation, other than scientific, is prohibited for at least 50 years.

Known mineral resources of Antarctica (the exploration is incomplete, so there may be more)

• Antarctica contains no indigenous peoples • Antarctica contains no indigenous peoples. 18 countries operate year round scientific research stations on the Antarctic continent and surrounding islands, employing scientists from nearly 30 countries. Whilst only around 1,000 scientists and support staff work there in winter, the number rises to over 10,000 in December (summer). • Increasing numbers of tourists are visiting the last great wilderness of Antarctica – currently around 45,000 per year – but this number is expected to rise.

Tourism Potentially could destroy the near-perfect environment Camping trips for naturalists, photographers + journalists Cruise ships in converted Russian ice-breakers from Ushuala [Argentina] or Port Stanley [Falklands] Over flights – started again recently after 20 year gap – Crash on Mt Erebus by DC10, all killed.

Realities McMurdo Sound – huts from Scott + Shackleton expeditions remain Mid-November to March 200 sites for the ship to land Boatloads of around 20 with expert guide Most sites visited once every two to three days

Research findings on Tourism A well-run industry Guidelines are followed but need updating Damage to vegetation largely by natural causes [breeding seals] not tourists No litter, more concern for waste Virtually no stress to penguins, or seals just Tern colonies 200 landing sites surveyed 5% show wear + tear – need to be rested.

Concerns remain The ecosystem is extremely fragile and impacts are left for long time – footprints in moss Summer tourist season coincides with peak wildlife breeding periods Usage clusters in the few ice-free locations Demand for fresh water difficult to meet Visitor pressure felt mainly on cultural heritage sites Unique legal status makes enforcement difficult

New limits to Antarctic tourism April 2009 - countries with ties to Antarctica adopted proposals to limit tourism to protect the ecosystem Requires member countries to prevent ships with more than 500 passengers from landing in Antarctica Allows a maximum of 100 passengers on shore at any given time

What links the following? France Norway Argentina Nazi Germany, between 1939-1942 Chile Australia All are overseas territories of the listed countries in Antarctica Nazi Germany is the odd one out, because its claim no longer exists. Then complete mapping exercise. United Kingdom Which is the odd one out? New Zealand

Antarctica claims

What do you notice? Anyone missing? From the previous slide you should have noticed that Antarctica is a contested continent. That there are significant overlaps on the territory claimed. Anyone missing? The United States and Russia, both reserve the right to claim territory if they see fit. China has not delivered a position on the subject. United States Russia China

Why the fuss? There are a number of reasons why countries may wish to have territorial claims Antarctica is rich in natural resources. Presently mineral resources can not be exploited, though could this be a possibility in the future.(?) It is a unique environment to collect scientific data. The scientific community is highly competitive, it may give a country the ‘edge’ over another, and result in economic success. It provides the country with a strategic position in the Southern Hemisphere, think the United Kingdom and the Falklands Islands. National pride and history. Is there any point in the United Kingdom maintaining a claim to Antarctica?

US Stamp celebrating the 1961 treaty. How is Antarctica managed? With a number of different countries all claiming territory in Antarctica, and others wanting to claim territory, a system was needed. The Antarctica Treaty System was agreed and signed in 1961. It is basically a number of Treaties that have been agreed on by signatory countries, that state how the continent should be managed and developed. Diamond ranking exercise could be done here. Homework, produce a set of five stamps representing articles from the treaty. US Stamp celebrating the 1961 treaty.

Signatories to the Antarctic Treaty. Any patterns here?

The Antarctic Treaty Claims to own parts of Antarctica are not allowed Some things aren’t even allowed to go there e.g. polystyrene No military activity is allowed Any proposals for using Antarctica have to be investigated. If they will damage the environment they are not allowed! All rubbish must be taken away from Antarctica Testing nuclear weapons and dumping nuclear waste is banned Mining is banned at the moment Fishing is carefully controlled The Treaty says Antarctica is a good place for scientific research. Countries who conduct research in Antarctica have to share their results with other members of the treaty

The 1961 Antarctic Treaty Covers 5 Main Areas 1. No military use shall be made of Antarctica, though military personnel and equipment may be used for peaceful purposes. 2. There will be complete freedom of scientific investigation. 3. Antarctic Treaty Nations will exchange plans for their scientific programmes, scientific data will be freely available and scientists will be exchanged between expeditions where practical. 4. No activities under the Treaty will affect claims to sovereignty of any part of Antarctica made by any nation. All territorial claims are put aside for the duration of the Treaty. 5. Nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal are banned from Antarctica.

Different people have different views You must explain why they hold the view they have Greenpeace…. An environmental pressure group Ban Ki Moon United Nations Secretary General Hands off Antarctica! British tourists planning to visit Antarctica Tony Hayward…. Boss of the big oil company BP This image used courtesy of Russakavia under creative commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License