ground rules for what you can and can't do on and around antarctica,
states that you are not allowed to disturb any wildlife south of a
certain line of latitude. the guideline itself is interesting --
there's no specified "safe" distance -- instead you have to base your
judgement upon whether the animal is reacting to your presence. the
first moral dilemma I've experienced with respect to this rule is
that most of the time we are plowing through the ice -- it seems to
be like the penguins/seals that we do see are moving rapidly out of
the way, and I imagine those underwater are doing the same. but it
would be tough to get any work done if we couldn't break ice, which
inevitably has wildlife in it. as far as I can tell, there's been no
exploration of this issue.
the second is what to do if the animal reacts to your presence and
wants to learn more. this one has been explored a little more
deeply. the consensus is that you are allowed to stay in the same
place if the animal approaches you. which, fortunately, happens a lot
with penguins.
on our second ice buoy/ice coring mission yesterday, we had a real
penguin experience. two Adelies came over to us out of nowhere on an
ice floe. they very calmly walked/slid up to us until they were
about 30-40 feet away and just hung out as we were digging (OK mostly
we were watching them and taking pictures). once in a while they
would flop onto their bellies. One turned its back to us but was
totally comfortable sitting there facing the other way.
on the ship there is a distance (and four large engines) that make
you a spectator to the animals -- which is cool, don't get me wrong.
but even if they wanted to make friends, it would be tough to form a
bond over the bow. but on the ice you're so much closer it's a
different experience. and gratifying to see the total lack of fear
and curiosity in the wildlife.
No comments:
Post a Comment