May 10th, 2013 at 8:00AM: Earlier this week, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) concluded their 24th annual meeting in Punta Arenas, Chile. Topics at the gathering included strategic planning for sustainable tourism in the Antarctic, methods of safe travel that can help protect the fragile ecosystem there and ways of enticing more travel companies to join the Association. During the ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
SouthernOcean posts
Antarctica Saw More Visitors In 2012
May 10th, 2013 at 8:00AM: Earlier this week, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) concluded their 24th annual meeting in Punta Arenas, Chile. Topics at the gathering included strategic planning for sustainable tourism in the Antarctic, methods of safe travel that can help protect the fragile ecosystem there and ways of enticing more travel companies to join the Association. During the ...Video: Two Months Aboard An Antarctic Ice Breaker
May 8th, 2013 at 8:00AM: You wouldn't think that watching a massive ice breaker slice through the ice in the Ross Sea off the coast of Antarctica would be all that interesting. But the video below condenses two months of time spent aboard just such a vessel into a five-minute clip that is simply mesmerizing to watch.
Shot aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer, the video captures the stark beauty of the Southern Ocean and the ...
Antarctic survey finds diversity of life under the ice
Jan 6th, 2012 at 10:30AM: The icy cold waters of the Southern Ocean are not a place you would expect to find a variety of aquatic species living and thriving, but that is exactly what a team of scientists discovered recently while conducting an underwater survey of the Antarctic. The expedition, which was a joint effort by Oxford University, the University of South Hampton, and the British Antarctic Survey, sent a Remotely ...Photo of the day - On the rocks
Dec 15th, 2011 at 6:00PM:
Not many of us will have the chance to visit Antarctica, especially with the new heavy-fuels ban introduced this year to protect the environment around the Southern Ocean. Next season only about 25,000 tourists are expected, about the same who visit Walt Disney World every DAY. Unless you are joining an adventure travel group like Quark Expeditions or happen to be an explorer like our own Jon ...Antarctic tourism drops in 2010
Jun 15th, 2011 at 8:00AM: The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) announced yesterday that the number of travelers visiting Antarctica actually dropped during the 2010-2011 tourism season – a trend that they expect to continue into the 2011-2012 season as well.
During the 2010-2011 Antarctic season, the total number of travelers on IAATO member-operated vessels was listed as 33,824, which ...Swedish explorer hopes to go Pole2Pole in one year
Apr 9th, 2011 at 8:00AM: Earlier this week, Swedish explorer Johan Ernst Nilson set out on an ambitious, 12-month long journey that will see him travel from the North Pole to the South Pole in a completely carbon neutral manner. The so called Pole2Pole will use skis, dogsleds, sailboats, and a bike to accomplish its goals.
This past Tuesday, Nilson was shuttled by helicopter to the North Pole, where he embarked on his ...IAATO comments on missing Antarctic yacht
Mar 3rd, 2011 at 8:00AM: The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) has released a statement regarding the Berserk, a Norwegian yacht that went missing in the Antarctic last week. While calling the incident "tragic," the statement reiterates that the ship was not part of the organization, and was operating without regard to important safety guidelines.
The IAATO is a member-based organization ...Search for missing antarctic yacht officially called off
Feb 28th, 2011 at 8:30AM: After nearly a week of searching, rescue teams have called off efforts to find a missing yacht that disappeared in Antarctic waters last week. The ship had three crew members on board at the time.
The Norwegian yacht Berserk was sailing in the Southern Ocean last Tuesday when the region was beset with bad storms. For unknown reasons, the crew activated the ship's emergency locator beacon, ...Giant iceberg splits from Antarctica
Feb 27th, 2010 at 9:00AM: A giant iceberg, the size of Luxembourg, has broken free from Antarctica and according to scientists could potentially play havoc with weather patterns across the globe for years to come. The massive chunk of ice, more than 985 square-miles in size, broke free from the Mertz Glacier Tongue along the eastern coast of Antarctica on February 12 or 13, and moved out into a region of the Southern Ocean ...Inexperinced Captain Blamed for Antarctic Cruise Ship Sinking
Apr 17th, 2009 at 8:00AM: Back in November of 2007 a cruise ship, called the Explorer, owned and operated by GAP Adventures, a well known and respected adventure travel operator, went down in the Southern Ocean. Fortunately, none of the 154 people on board were killed, or even injured for that matter, and rescue ships were on the scene within hours. But many were left to wonder how such an accident could happen. Eighteen ...
