Currents Summer 2024 (1) - Flipbook - Page 14
On the ship9s lower decks, sudsy water splashes against the metal floor as feet file through a
set of three small pools. Below, a fleet of inflatable zodiac boats awaits, ready to take
passengers ashore for their first steps on the Antarctic continent.
Despite their harmful wastewater practices and pollutive sources of fuel, Antarctic tour
companies nevertheless propagate a sort of feel-good conservation narrative. Tourists are
shepherded to the conclusion that their Antarctic vacations will leave no trace if they follow
the IAATO9s rules for conduct. As sustainability buzzwords gain traction in consumer markets,
visitors have been lured to the continent on misleading premises.
The narratives that travelers are increasingly fed by tour companies fail to account for the
reality that tourism in Antarctica is just another means through which the continent has been
and will continue to be exploited for human benefit. The notion that Antarctica remains one
of the last pristine places on the planet, untouched by humans and free of their exploitative
tendencies, is a myth.
Still, the cruises that take visitors to Antarctica have become creative with their messaging.
Visitors are told, through informational videos like the one about landing procedures, that
their leisure travel to the continent serves as a tool to enhance conservation measures there.
Living up to the brochure
A line trudges up the hillside at Argentina9s Brown Base. A sizable group of penguins squawk
to the left, scuttling away from the encroaching tourists. Metal poles stretch outward, iPhone
cameras attached at their ends, as the penguins belly-slide out of view.
Tourists reach the top of the hill, and the line breaks apart. Snowballs fly overhead. A snow
angel looks out of place in the pile of fresh Antarctic snow. A flag appears: blue and white,
with a large check mark stamped over an outline of Antarctica. 8My Seventh Continent!9 it
says. Snowflakes are falling, again, but the silence that usually accompanies a snowstorm is
disturbed by shouting and laughing. The volume feels unnaturally loud. Only a few penguins
from the original group remain within immediate eyesight of the tourists. Cameras continue
clicking.
At an average cost of $8,000 USD per ticket, a dynamic necessarily emerges between cruise
ship customers and the experiences they expect to receive while in Antarctica. Patrons are
paying for a service, making the experience exist within a paradigm of commercial
transaction, value for money and demonstrable experience.
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