leptonyx

Antarctic ozone hole second-largest size on record

2008-11-10T22:31:00.003+01:00

At its maximum size for the year, the "hole" — an area of the stratosphere where the concentration of ozone falls below a certain thinness (220 Dobson units) — covered about 27 million square kilometers, an area larger than North America. The record of 28 million square kilometers was set in 2006. The hole, which has been forming on a seasonal basis over Antarctic since the mid-1980s, is largest around late September.

On September 12, 2008, the Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum size for the year. Represented by blues and purples in this image from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA™'s Aura satellite, the ozone hole covered about 27 million square kilometers, making it larger than North America, which is about 25 million square kilometers. Though larger than it was in 2007, the 2008 ozone hole was still smaller than the record set in 2006. Image courtesy NASA's Ozone Hole Watch. Ozone depletion is caused by release of ozone-destroying chemicals — including chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) compounds known as "freons" and bromofluorocarbon compounds known as Halons — into the atmsophere. In 1987, following the discovery of their culpability in ozone depletion, the international community adopted the Montreal Protocol which banned the production of CFCs and halons as well as related ozone-depleting chemicals. The move has helped slow the growth of the ozone hole as well as prevented the release of potent greenhouse gases other than CO2. Still scientists say the ozone layer is not expected to recover until 2068.

Contrary to popular opinion, the ozone layer is not the cause of global warming. In fact, scientific observations suggest the ozone hole may promote cooling. As such, the recovery of the ozone layer over Antarctica — the continent which has seen the last warming over recent decades — may speed local temperature rise.

Because the ozone layer prevents most harmful UVB wavelengths of ultraviolet light from entering the Earth's atmosphere, ozone depletion is a significant concern. Increased penetration by UVB wavelengths of ultraviolet light is believed to heighten the incidence of skin cancer, damage plants, and reduce ocean plankton populations.

So how does one become "expedition cruise guide"?

2008-11-02T23:14:00.013+01:00

So it's been a while since I lasted posted anything - or since I even last touched my website and blogs. But from time to time, writing in "long form" is more attractive than facebook or twitter, so here is another post, jam-packed with my distilled wisdom!

From time to time passengers have asked me during our time together on an expedition cruise vessel, and more recently, a few people have approached me to learn about how they could qualify and apply for such a job. So I sat down and wrote some of them a humorous e-mail which I have now decided to elaborate on, and post here.

YOUR BACKGROUND

From what I have seen most expedition staff fall into one of the following categories:

A) the adventurers - preferably with some customer-service related background, like restaurant/hotel/travel industry...

B) the (former) science guys - biologists, geologists, geophysicists, who have pursued some interest in polar topics; mind you not all of them are actually "polar scientists"!

C) the naturalist/birder - usually not scientists, but people who have a lot of field experience and dedication to their subject

D) the history buff/former staffer at a polar installation - some of them true "armchair historians" or Shackleton fans, others with some "ice time" in a science support role

E) the professional "outdoors guys" - kayak/dive guides, ice climbers, ski bums, etc.

F) the "where the f*** did they find this guy?" people...

Combinations of one or several types occur, but are relatively few and far between.

WHAT YOU WILL HAVE TO DO

Before you try to figure out which category you (would like to) fit into, it is important to realize that there are a range of different job descriptions to fill on most expedition cruise vessels. They fall roughly into three categories:

1. the expedition staff (Expedition leaders, their assistants, guides, zodiac drivers, logistics support staff)

2. the hotel/hospitality staff (hotel managers, barkeepers, general assistants, chefs, sous chefs, kitchen hands, stewards)

3. the presenting staff (science lecturers/artists-in-residence/celebrity speakers...)

Now, depending on the size of the vessel, staff members might be expected to appear in at least two out of the three categories, most commonly is the combination of expedition+presenting functions, but also hospitality+expedition jobs. Sometimes, especially on the smaller vessels, you will be asked to "help out" in one of the other sectors, p.e. guides helping in serving drinks, helping in the galley, or barkeepers helping out in zodiac operations are quite common. So unless you are a "senior scientist/celebrity speaker" onboard, refusal to help out somewhere else than in your appointed specialty will reflect badly upon you. You are literally "in the same boat" with your shipmates, so when it's all hands on deck that's exactly where you should be.

Just to clarify, most people in the industry are actually not "type B" or even "type C" but even if you come from a background in, let's say corporate law & finance, you might find your niche in any of the other categories (let's just hope it is not in "type F"...). Also, if you have higher aspirations, it might be interesting to know that expedition leaders are recruited from all 6 types (yep, also from "type F" - deal with it...).

HOW TO APPLY

So here is what I recommend you do for your application:

• check out the websites and relevant literature of your prospective employer. Get an idea whether you are looking at a more "luxury-style" operator or a more "expedition-style" or even "budget" operator. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

• if you can, contact somebody "on the inside" and get the details on how the respective ships are operated, whether management seems to be knowing what they are doing, and what they are typically paying...

• find out who to contact and write a short CV outlining your relevant qualifications and experience. Be aware that these companies usually get a load of job applications and have a large staff file (or if they don't, maybe you should stay away from them...!).

• If you are willing to present something - which will maximise your chances of landing a job! - choose and shortly describe 3 (or more?) topics on which you could give a decent, public interest presentation (does not have to be "hardcore" polar science or polar history, some "human interest" stories with a polar twist - "my first polar bear"/"my time as student/guide/research diver... on Svalbard/in the Antarctic"/life at xyz scientific base" or something like that might do the trick).

HOW TO PRESENT ONBOARD

When planning and building those presentations (Powerpoint!) think pictures are better than text, simple words are better than scientific terms, funny is better than boring, and shorter is better than longer.

Rule of thumb: not more than 30 minutes of slides, mix it up and change formats once or twice (i.e. mix still photos/video/sound bites/whiteboard/just talk...) and most important of all, allow plenty of time for interaction, questions, and debate.

If you are confident, encourage questions during the presentation (but keep debate to the end), if you rather want to "coast through", make sure to mention that there will be time for questions at the end.

Relevant skills expected from you as guide

- happy to be with tourists all day, in a guide/leadership role
- public speaking, some polar exposure and field competence
- VHF radio and GPS skills, zodiac and outboard experience
- some wildlife spotting and interaction experience
- being able to create and support a "good vibe" within your team and on your ship

Some of this stuff can be learnt (and should be part of the operator's staff training program) while other things are just crucial skills you should bring to the table. As a rule, let's say you should check on at least three of the five points mentioned.

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A few things you should avoid

(based on real life, believe it or not)

- complain about the cold...
- narrate how the last voyage was "so much cooler"
- disappear into one's cabin whenever possible (dude, you are working!)
- express the view that penguins/reindeer are "boring"
- excessively drink and party (dude, you are still working!)
- openly f*** around with passengers...

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Of course you should have fun onboard, and you should have the right to some privacy some times, but f***ing around or constantly "disappearing" are the two sure-fire ways to get yourself fired.

The other things will at least earn you some "quality time" with senior staff or the expedition leader (EL), which in this case would not be a good thing.

Having said all that that, I would like to conclude with some words of wisdom from my buddy Mike Murphy, a polar expedition cruise pioneer - he started working as zodiac driver in the 70's, about 5 minutes after expedition cruises were invented:

"It's not about being a polar explorer hero, or a brilliant naturalist, or a super communicator, or any of that old crap people tell you in the hiring interviews..."

...

"All of the above can be faked --- and boy you will see a lot of that being done out there all the time.... "(true enough!).

"But there is one thing, and one thing only, that cannot be faked, and it is the decisive quality for a good staffer:

...

It's all about Looking Good!"

Welcome to my new blog - port of longyear

2008-06-04T00:25:00.003+02:00

Since I start in my new job as port agent in a few days, I thought it might be cool to set up a little topical blog for this.

So here it is: Port of Longyear.

Check it out, I will try to post some nicer pics than the PortCam can provide them, and also some news and info on the boats we are currently handling.

Update on Minerva aka Explorer II aka A.v.Humboldt

2008-05-22T21:07:00.005+02:00

Fellow blogger and cruise ship expert Doug Newman is keeping tabs on virtually every vessel on the market and has managed to research their entire owner histories. I like to cross-post these things simply for the fact that I can pepper them with links... ;-)

UPDATE: Minerva is back in route as of May 31.

Swan Hellenic has been forced to cancel its first cruise with its once and future ship, Minerva, due to unexpected generator difficulties. The eight-night Norwegian Fjords cruise was scheduled to depart from Dover on Friday 23 May, returning on Saturday, 31 May and was scheduled to call at Bergen, Flam, Ulvik, Stavanger and Kristiansand. The ship is scheduled to arrive in Hamburg tomorrow, 22 May, concluding her charter to Phoenix Reisen. According to a statement from Swan Hellenic, “[The problem] in no way affects the safety of the passengers on board and the ship will finish its current cruise on schedule this Thursday at Hamburg, where a thorough assessment can be undertaken. Once this is completed a further announcement will be made.”

The 12,331 GT, 350-berth Minerva was originally built in for Swan Hellenic in 1996 off the hull of an unfinished Russian research ship. The ship operated for Swan — then part of P&O, and later its cruise spin-off P&O Princess Cruises plc, which became Carnival plc in a merger with Carnival Corporation in 2003 — until replaced in 2003 by the larger, 30,277 GT, 710-berth Minerva II, built in 2001 as Renaissance Cruises’ R Eight. In 2006, Carnival took the decision to transfer Minerva II to Princess Cruises as Royal Princess in April 2007, and sell the now-dormant Swan Hellenic brand. While many Swan loyalists feared this unique cruise line would disappear, former P&O and P&O Princess chairman Lord Sterling came to the rescue in 2007. He quickly forged a partnership with All Leisure Group plc, parent of Voyages of Discovery, which had already arranged a charter of the former Minerva beginning in 2008. Thus the ship, which had bounced around between Saga Cruises as Saga Pearl", Abercrombie & Kent as Explorer II (with additional sub-charters to Regent Seven Seas Cruises) and Phoenix Reisen as Alexander von Humboldt, would come full circle and re-join the revived Swan Hellenic, rather than Voyages of Discovery as originally planned. Now it appears that her long-awaited re-entry into service will be slightly postponed, but that is unlikely to put much of a damper on the enthusiasm of Swan regulars, many of whom found Minerva II too large and anticipated returning to “their” ship once again.

The story of my academic life (in three cartoons...)

2008-05-14T13:43:00.004+02:00

Hooded Seals get SatNav, too

2008-04-26T18:22:00.005+02:00

Southern Elephant seals have been known for a while to be perfect "vessels of opportunity" for oceanographic as well as biological research. More recently, narwhals were also discovered as suitable carriers of oceanographic data loggers, which communicate their collected data through the ARGOS satellite system, and were aptly titled oceanographic unicorns.

Now hooded seals join the club, as they now also get to carry loggers and sat transponders on their heads:

According to the researchers in charge, these SRDLs (Satellite-Relay Data Loggers) weigh about 400 g, and have negligible impact on the seals. They represent a maximum of 2% of the body weight of the animal carrying them, which range in size from 30 kg – 1.5 tonnes.

Cruise-onomics: how to (not) save money

2008-04-22T12:39:00.003+02:00

The good folks at Expert Cruiser have compiled an astounding list of tips how to spend and where to save money on a cruise. Having never been on a "real" cruise, only on "expedition cruises", this insight was a bit of an eye-opener:

"Cruising is one of the best vacation values going. The all-inclusive fare includes accommodations, meals and entertainment. But did you know that cruise lines get most of their revenue from the things passengers buy aboard ship? Yep. That’s why they aggressively peddle their photos, spa services, art auctions, shore excursions, jewelry, casino and drinks of the day." (click on the text for full article).

Historical whaling tools retrieved and dated

2008-04-20T19:31:00.005+02:00

As I blogged already last autumn, some whaling tools recently retrieved from bowhead whales witness both historical hunting techniques and the amazing life spans of these whales. Now an arcticle of the scientific journal "Polar Biology" has appeared with detailed information on the dating of these harpoon and lance fragments. See the article online here:

"The age of bowhead whales captured by Native Alaskan hunters in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas has been estimated via chemical analyses of the eye lenses, and other techniques. The racemization-age estimates indicate that bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) have a lifespan of more than a century. Stone and ivory weapon fragments recovered from bowhead whales hunted in Wainwright and Barrow (Alaska) in 1981, 1992, 1993 and 1997, provided rough but independent assessments of the whales’ longevity; however, their date of manufacture was unknown. Adding further confirmation of these age estimates, this note describes bomb lance fragments recovered recently (2007) and about 30 years ago (1980) from bowhead whales harvested by Eskimo hunters that were “dateable” and likely manufactured between 1879 and 1885. (Source: Polar Biology's website).

This is the new "Alexander v. Humboldt II"

2008-04-17T12:23:00.004+02:00

In November I blogged about the recent ship changes and sometimes only name changes in the expedition cruise industry. Now it's time for a follow-up:

remember the "Alexander von Humboldt" aka Explorer II?

Now Phoenix Reisen is ending their contract with this vessel (which btw is reversing its name back to "Minerva") and instead they got another ship as of this August, and they will call her - hold on - "Alexander von Humboldt II"!

Cross-posting from fellow blogger Doug Newman:

"The ship, built in 1990 as Crown Monarch for Crown Cruise Line, spent 1994 to 2006 as a gambling ship, first as Nautican in Singapore and then as Walrus (later marketed as Neptune) from Hong Kong. In 2006 Sea Containers, the successor of the ship’s original owner, sold the ship to Club Cruise and from 2007 she was chartered to the newly-formed Spanish cruise line Vision Cruises for cruises from Valencia. It is unclear what will happen to Vision Cruises when it loses its ship in 2008.

Although not an expedition vessel, the relatively small size and maneuverability of Alexander von Humboldt II should help make her a success in her new role."

What really sank the Titanic (apart from the iceberg...)

2008-04-16T21:53:00.005+02:00

"Crime Scene Investigations" and "Forensic Evidence" seem to be ubiquitous and irresistible these days, and some people have decided to apply these techniques to another irresistibe and iconic desaster topic: the "Titanic".

So what good can come from applying modern-day material science to an old wreck? It turns out that the rivets might be part of the explanation. For those of us not familiar with historical ship-building, riveting was to early 20th century metal workers what welding is today, i.e. the most common technique to join pieces of metal together.

Apparently, there were approximately three million rivets used to in the Titanic's hull to connect all its metal plates. According to the authors of "What Really Sank the Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries", Jennifer Hooper McCarty and Tim Foecke, substandard rivet material and possibly also "riveter" craftsmanship may be to blame for the Titanic's fate.

Indeed, when inspecting the wreck, these researchers claim to have found several narrow slits rather than a huge gash, pointing to multiple hull breaches (due to failing rivets) instead of the big hole assumedly ripped open by the contact with the iceberg.

So although this is of course highly speculative, let's venture back into the past and have a look how "riveting" actually was done:

"At a central location near the areas being riveted, a furnace was set up. Rivets were placed in the furnace and heated to a glowing hot temperature, at which time the furnace operator would use tongs to individually remove and throw them to catchers stationed near the joints to be riveted. The catcher would place the glowing hot rivet into the hole to be riveted, and quickly turn around to await the next rivet. One worker would then hold a heavy rivet set against the round head of the rivet, while the hammerer would apply a pneumatic rivet hammer to the unformed head, causing it to mushroom tightly against the joint in its final domed shape. Upon cooling, the rivet would contract and exert further force tightening the joint. This process was repeated for each rivet." (from Wikipedia's post on rivets).

So for all of us making a living on ice-filled oceans: get decent welders to put your ship together!

Of course, you could also try to avoid hitting icebergs...

National Geographic Explorer (ex. Lyngen) takes shape

2008-04-15T00:12:00.009+02:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, Lindblad Expeditions, the pioneer in polar expedition cruising, is currently finishing a major conversion of the former "Hurtigruten" vessel Lyngen.

You can follow the progress of their work on their website, just follow this link.

They are already planning their season, spanning from the Baltic, Norway, Svalbard, Greenland and Iceland all the way down to Patagonia. You can see their itineraries here.

This should be the most up-to-date expedition cruise vessel on the market!

Maybe I should apply for a job there some time...

Polar Bear Knut - the sibling sequel (cont.)

2008-04-08T15:03:00.003+02:00

In November I predicted a sequel to the marketing success story of Polar Bear ""Knut" - here it is: Polar Bear "Flocke" of the Nuremberg Zoo!

-------------------------------------------

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A fluffy white polar bear cub that has captured German hearts is making her first public appearance Tuesday at the Nuremberg City Zoo.

Flocke (FLOCK-uh), whose name means "snowflake" in German, was born at the zoo in December. She gained international attention in January after zookeepers said they had taken Flocke away from her mother because of concerns she would eat her.

The zoo's other female polar bear had recently eaten her two offspring, and the zoo was concerned that Flocke's mother would do the same.

Zookeepers bottle-fed Flocke and kept her warm with blankets and heatlamps.

Sweet pictures of the young bear being cuddled by her keepers or sleeping with her tongue sticking out boosted Flocke's popularity, and she quickly eclipsed Knut (knoot), the polar bear at the Berlin Zoo.

Knut was a sensation when he was born in December 2006, but at 16 months old he's no longer considered as cute as his Nuremberg counterpart.

Flocke has grown into a bouncy young cub who is learning how to use her large paws. The zoo's latest pictures of Flocke, from early last week, show her frolicking in her enclosure and paddling in a pool of shallow water.

The first chance to see Flocke up close is Tuesday, when the zoo is holding a media event with about 50 members of the public. Starting Wednesday, people visiting the zoo will be able to see Flocke in her enclosure from 9-11 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. daily -- "if Flocke plays along" and decides to step outside, the zoo said.

End of Season - homeward bound

2008-04-01T03:28:00.003+02:00

This will be my last post for this Antarctic season, as my vessel has just come into port and I will be flying home tomorrow. It has been a long and intense season, and I will definitely need a few days to recover and get back into normality again. I will post again as soon as "shore acclimatization" is accomplished again ;-)

Short update before the last trip

2008-03-22T17:34:00.002+01:00

Here we are again, back in Ushuaia where things slowly start to wind down and the weather is turning even windier and chillier than during the earlier summer months... ;-)

After one trip on the "Grigoriy Mikheev" with 17 divers I was scheduled to "jump ship" once again and lead another diving expedition on the "Aleksey Maryshev", the sister ship of the "Mikheev". Unfortunately, the "Maryhsev" was not able to sail due to some engine issues, so I was suddenly stuck in town without a ship to work on.

After two days that situation was resolved and I was relocated on yet another Oceanwide vessel, the "Professor Multanovskiy", which happens to be my very first ship that I worked on for Oceanwide (Arctic summer 2002). It was certainly a challenging trip since we had a charter group onboard who were planning on doing ice climbing, kayaking and "regular excursions" every day (morning and afternoon!), and on top of that they requested to be put ashore twice for a night of camping on Antarctica.

So we were all pretty busy making it all happen, and I am happy to say that the kayaking worked out great, the climbers were happy with the spots we found for them, and also the camping worked out well. But it was pretty intense and there was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes as well (but I will not talk about that here obviously...).

Today we are heading out again, for the last voyage of the season, and we expect a full ship again. This time it will be with "normal passengers", i.e. no climbing, no camping and no (scheduled) kayaking either. I am instructed to give kayaking a go anyway if there are some experienced and interested customers onboard, and if conditions allow. Unfortunately our kayak guide had to leave after this trip so I will have to double-task: expedition leading and kayak guiding! Should be fun...

More about all that - and hopefully there will also be time for new pictures - in April when I will be back home again.

R & R in Buenos Aires

2008-02-26T13:40:00.003+01:00

After having finished this season´s contract with Peregrine Shipping, I am taking a few days in Buenos Aires to recharge before I return to Ushuaia and to the Antarctic Peninsula for the final month of cruising. Yes, another full month! Believe it or not, my last trip is leaving on March 21 and due back in port April 1.

The next two trips will be with scuba diving customers, one on "Grigoriy Mikheev" and the next on its sister ship "Aleksey Maryshev", then the final trip will be on "Professor Multanovskiy" which is currently still operating for Quark Expeditions.

The last trip on Peregrine´s vessel "Akademik Ioffe" went to the Falklands, South Georgia and the northern Peninsula region. It was my first trip on the Ioffe and it took me a few days to get used to its slightly different setup. But the trip itself went great and the rest of the staff team were really great to work with again.

On the previous Falklands-South Georgia-AntPen (with Akad. Sergey Vavilov) trip we had made a landing on the South Orkneys, on this one we managed to zodiac cruise around Point Wild - what else can one wish for! As per usual, we got blown out of a few sites in South Georgia, but we always managed to make up for that by visiting some other places. And the Falklands impressed me yet again: incredible wildlife experiences, fantastic people, great atmosphere...

We were also briefed by several of the Quark management staff on the ongoing and future changes to the company and to our operations, now that Quark has assumed control of the former "Adventurefleet" ships, including Vavilov and Ioffe. The Quark Fleet will certainly be the biggest player on the market from now on, both in terms of ships and in terms of passenger capacity, with Hurtigruten as no.2 on the Antarctic market and Oceanwide as no. 2 on the Arctic (counting the current Arctic charter of "Antarctic Dream" as a part of the Oceanwide fleet).

On all occasions have Quark management confirmed that they will not resume scuba diving operations as part of their programme, so Oceanwide (and Waterproof Exp.) will remain the only players on that field.

Additionally, Quark is expanding its commitment in the Svalbard-East Greenland area by one ship. The Akademik Shokalsky will be joining the Akademik Sergey Vavilov in that area, so one can expect more encounters and more need for careful scheduling in the Svalbard area as well.

Interesting times!

first harbour day of 2008 Antarctic

2008-01-27T15:28:00.001+01:00

Just a short note on how things are going down here:

I have just returned from an 18-day trip to the Falklands (Carcass & Saunders Is.), South Georgia, and the Antarctic Peninsula on the Akademik Sergey Vavilov (see previous posts for pictures). The ship is incredibly stable and comfortable even in fairly bad weather, and so the trip was a breeze. Also, I have been working with the largest shipboard staff team yet, 20 strong! Considering that we had around 95 passengers, the staff-passenger ratio was excellent and we all had a great time.

Another new thing for me is the addition of a videographer on the staff, which happens to be my cabin mate. Unfortunately, that means that our desk is overflowing with video gear, a 24-inch iMac, tripds, DVD covers everywhere... and from time to time the cabin becomes a recording studio for voice-overs!

But the work he has done is incredible, I managed to catch a glimpse of the 40-minute high-def video that he shot, edited, sound-edited and presented, all during the voyage... he did not get too much sleep, or when he did you could see the impressions of the keyboard on his forehead... ;-)

In a few hours I am off for another voyage on the Vavilov, back in port on February 6. Hopefully, next time I get shore leave I remember to bring the CD with the images of the voyage, so I can upload some on the website. For now, this text will have to suffice.

Hurtigruten vessel "Fram" loses power, hits iceberg

2008-01-09T16:17:00.000+01:00

It seems that the string of news about Antarctic shipping accidents is far from over:

A few days ago, Hurtigruten's newest vessel in the fleet, the FRAM has had an incident where it lost engine power for a period of 30 minutes during which the vessel drifted just past a skerry and scratched along an iceberg. The ship is currently sitting at anchorage off Ushuaia and has cancelled the trip they should have been commencing on January 02.

Antarctic season 2008 - here I come

2008-01-03T23:39:00.000+01:00

In a few days I will be off to Buenos Aires and Ushuaia to rejoin the Adventure Fleet vessel "Akademik Sergey Vavilov". It will be a long season again - I expect to be home in the first week of April - but I have managed to put in a few days of "shore leave" in February.

This season is going to be as varied and complicated as it could be - 6 trips on 5 ships - so there should be plenty of stuff to write home about. In previous years I could have cracked a cheap joke about having no home and thus being forced to write to "the internet" but alas, that ship has sailed ;-)

Allow me to take a moment and make a quick list of 2007:

• moved into new enormous apartment with my girl (January)
• went on a spontaneous road trip around Argentina (March)
• got all the paperwork done & finalized wedding plans (May)
• finally joined a cruise around Greenland & Iceland (August)
• got married, had honeymoon in the mountains (September)
• finished another PhD article, got a nice job offer (November)
• got an even nicer job offer, submitted the article (December)

It is always weird to leave home and head out to the ships for weeks and months, but this time it might be the weirdest yet. Wish me luck and check out this blog or the "recent pictures" section in the coming weeks!

On-site comments on the UN Climate Change Conference

2007-12-09T16:45:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine found this journalistic gem in the Jakarta Post:

"France, which appears to be the only country displaying non-English language posters, is directly next to Germany. Both stands were unmanned during the two hours that I was walking the hallways.
Someone cheekily remarked that they were having lunch together. If so, it was a long one. Vivre Amitie Franco-Allemande!

But my award for the most useless stand must surely go to the United States whose representative told me that she was not authorized to discuss the issue of climate change. So much for freedom of speech."

Statements following the "Explorer" sinking

2007-12-07T16:33:00.000+01:00

Fellow blogger and cruise ship specialist Doug Newman has been following the "Explorer" shipping disaster closely, and has also gathered statements from both GAP Adventures, the operating company of the ship at the time of the sinking, as well as from Lindblad Expeditions, the original operator of the ship, which put her into service in 1969.

Doug puts the prominent place of the "Explorer" into perspective like this:

"The “little red ship” was one of the most important cruise ships in history; the seminal expedition cruise ship, she was to expedition cruising what Royal Caribbean’s Song of Norway was to the rest of the cruising world, or maybe even more."

Sven-Olof Lindblad, the son of company founder Lars-Erik Lindblad, has posted an article titled Remembering the 'Little Red Ship' which recounts some of the dramatic history of the ship while it was still in operation for Lindblad Expeditions. You can download the full article here.

GAP Adventures’ CEO Bruce Poon Tip also issued a statement regarding the loss of the ship, finishing with the words:

"The Explorer left us in very dramatic fashion. She couldn't just go quietly in the night but instead, was hanging on and danced her way out of commission. She made everyone watch for just a minute to remember her history as she hung on long enough to allow all of her passengers to disembark to safety. I would expect nothing less from her. The Explorer has been a big part of our history as a company and represented the true spirit of what makes our company special. We thank everyone who has been part of making it happen over the years."

Some ramblings about the climate change debate

2007-12-07T13:33:00.000+01:00

Reading up for my previous post about the Amazon rainforest and climate change, I was again reminded of the fact that the global climate change debate seems to evolve into a battle with two fronts. Let there be no doubt about it: global climate change is a fact. A vast majority of scientists - people who are trained to disagree, you could say ;-) have arrived at the conclusion that there is substantial evidence for dramatic changes going on in our climate. So why would there be a two-fronted battle?

Of course, on the one side you have your nay-sayers, sceptics and those who would rather believe in global conspiracies than in scientifically documented reports. These people will always be present in some number and typically also with some sort of agenda. Apart from the "conspiracy theorists", these people would say "it is only natural" or "there have always been ups and downs, nothing to worry". The more interesting fraction will claim that there is some degree of change in our environment, but that it is due to some hitherto unknown phenomenon, or due to some factors which have been downplayed so far.

Depending on the level of their conviction, on their underlying motivation and their agenda, it will be hard if not impossible to argue with some of these nay-sayers and come to some consensus. As in every argument where the stakes are high, you have to expect that you simply cannot reach a consensus with some part of your opposition.

So what about the other front of the battle? That is the truly surprising and truly frustrating element of the ongoing debate, as I see it: everybody and their dog seem to have become "global climate experts", and they appear with bold statements in the media and in the public debate. Unfortunately, many of these self-proclaimed or media-acclaimed "experts" and "scientific writers" and "environmental activists" do not have more than the most basic training in natural sciences, let alone ecology, geophysics or climatology.

It does not take long to select a few examples:

• the "polar ice cap" - so many statements about the status of the "polar ice" do not bother to discriminate between sea ice and glacial ice. Melting sea ice is linked with rising sea levels (hello, Archimedes!), retreating glaciers are linked to retreating pack ice distribution, the link between the "global conveyor belt" i.e. the oceans' deep-water circulation, and sea ice formation and distribution is strangely under-represented. Surprisingly many people do not even mention the fundamental differences between the "Arctic ice cap" - an ice-covered ocean - and the "Antarctic ice cap" - an ice-covered continent. Nor do they realize that even Arctic and Antarctic sea ice are affected by very different dynamics, and the "ice shelves" are by many believed to consist of sea ice, simply because shelf ice floats on the sea.

• "save the rainforest" - true, rainforests perform vital tasks in filtering water, releasing oxygen, and storing carbon. In fact, all forests on Earth perform these services to some degree. But tropical rainforests are not such great "carbon sinks" as many claim: they do not store any more carbon than is contained in their biomass, and they deposit almost nothing. That is the great tragedy of tropical deforestation: the soil that is converted into agricultural use is often so poor that it does not even serve as proper pasture. The one point where tropical rainforests do excel above temperate forests (which are much more important as carbon sinks, in that they deposit much more in their soil) is biological diversity. And unfortunately, the preservation of biological diversity is still regarded as a luxury rather than as a necessity.

• "glaciers as climate change thermometers" - how many examples of collapsing glacier fronts have been in the press, on Greenpeace campaigns, or on television programs? Common for all of them is a profound misunderstanding of glaciers acting as thermometers. True, glaciers are affected by air temperature, and they are also retreating in many locations all over the world. But to claim that air temperature alone is the driving factor of glacier extent is ignoring all the other factors that together make up the specific mass balance and dynamics of a glacier, like size, precipitation received, altitude, proximity to the sea, underlying bedrock etc. pp.

Also, in many cases reports claim that the status "before" the onset of climate change was "natural", while the current status "after" climate change is not. But where is the original extent, the reference line against which we should compare current levels? And how would such a reference be meaningful?

There are a number of other examples where some "experts" among the "supporters" as well as the "sceptics" are mixing up facts, misunderstanding or misinterpreting them. And this is the truly puzzling part of this: if somebody without proper medical training makes a bold diagnosis on a patient, very few people would be inclined to take this very seriously. But in ecology, geophysics, or oceanography, there seems to be a much lower threshold. Why?

So this is where I see the second "front" in the "battle" over climate change: the so-called "experts" (of both parties) who got it wrong. In between these two fronts, between the sceptics and the unqualified "experts" are the scientists and campaigners who actually know what they are talking about. The doctors who actually know how to diagnose a patient, if you like.

To stick with this metaphor, these doctors now have to deal with some opponents who claim that the patient is not sick at all (or that the patient is going to be all right, not to worry) while some other "doctors" enter the scene stating false diagnoses with great conviction.

Unfortunately, many of the unqualified "experts" are found among the supporters of climate change and in the conservation movement. Not only will many of these well-meaning but ill-informed "experts" react with hostility when challenged by scientists, they also play in the hands of the sceptics in a formidable way.

The great tragedy of this debate is that the ones to blame for all this confusion and especially for the existence of "experts" who got it wrong, are the scientists themselves. If the natural science education in the schools as well as the public outreach and communication of science to the public had been more thorough and more serious, I doubt that we would have this problem. Scientists will have to become and train better teachers, and they will have to become and train better science communicators.

WWF Says Warming Puts Amazon Region at Risk

2007-12-07T13:17:00.000+01:00

BALI, Indonesia (AP) -- The impact of climate change plus deforestation could wipe out or severely damage nearly 60 percent of the Amazon forest by 2030 - making it impossible to keep global temperatures from reaching catastrophic levels, an environmental group said Thursday.

Several recent studies have suggested similar findings, but scientists say the size and complexity of the Amazon leaves many questions about the rain forest's future open to debate. Brazil's Environment Ministry did not respond this week to a request for comment.

"The importance of the Amazon forest for the globe's climate cannot be underplayed," said Daniel Nepstad, author of a new report by the World Wide Fund For Nature released at the U.N. climate change conference in Bali.

"It's not only essential for cooling the world's temperature, but also such a large source of fresh water that it may be enough to influence some of the great ocean currents, and on top of that, it's a massive store of carbon."

Sprawling over 1.6 million square miles, the Amazon covers nearly 60 percent of Brazil. Largely unexplored, it contains one-fifth of the world's fresh water and about 30 percent of the world's plant and animal species - many still undiscovered.

According to the WWF, deforestation in the Amazon could result in 55.5 billion to 96.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide being released into the environment by 2030, representing as much as two years of global carbon emissions.

(By Michael Casey, AP Environmental Writer, shortened for this bog)

Compulsory Pilots for Svalbard Cruise Operators?

2007-12-05T22:28:00.000+01:00

As the local newspaper Svalbardposten reports, "Kystverket"/The Norwegian Coastal Administration has proposed to introduce compulsory pilot services for cruise ships operating in Svalbard waters, effective from next summer. This article is unfortunately only available in Norwegian.

Click here to access the Kystverket post about it or click here to download the full report. For the moment, these two items are also available in Nowegian only.

International Polar Tourism Research Network now online

2007-12-05T20:26:00.000+01:00

As polar tourism increases, so does the body of research that studies it. This newly launched website offers a comprehensive overview of literature on the subject of polar tourism (though mostly from a geographic viewpoint, as it seems) and is according to the website's own statement meant to "...foster increased connections between the many researchers studying polar tourism. In addition, the International Polar Tourism Research Network welcomes not only researchers, but also polar tourism operators, consultants, students and community leaders shaping the industry and phenomenon of polar tourism."

The creation of the International Polar Tourism Research Network is the idea of a group of polar tourism researchers who met in 2006 at the Annual conference of the Canadian Association of Geographer held that year at Lakehead University, in Thunder Bay.

The International Polar Tourism Research Network website is supported by the Université du Québec A Montréal (UQAM) and the Centre international de formation et de recherche en tourisme (CIFORT).

Unfortunately, that makes it a bit cumbersome to search, as this function is currently only available in French.

Explorer II = Minerva; Alexander von Humboldt II = Jules Verne

2007-11-29T20:17:00.000+01:00

It used to be so simple:

"Explorer" was the former "Lindblad Explorer" that turned into "Society Explorer" and finally "GAP Explorer" or simply "Explorer".

Then there was "Explorer II", which was at times also "Alexander von Humboldt" when it was operated by Phoenix Reisen. Otherwise Abercrombie & Kent would call her "Explorer II", simply because they used to charter the original "Explorer" before.

But now Phoenix Reisen does not charter the same vessel any more, so one would think that A & K have it all to themselves.

But wait: while Phoenix Reisen is now chartering the "Jules Verne" - calling her "Alexander von Humboldt II" - the new owners of the vessel, Swan Hellenic have come up with an idea: why not rename "Explorer II" into "Minerva" (again)?

Meanwhile, the original "Explorer" is assumed to have sunk, while the expedition cruiser "Alexander von Humboldt" simply ceased to exist...

And did I mention that the previous operator of the "Explorer", Lindblad Expeditions, is now refitting a former Hurtigruten ship, the former Lyngen, and they will call her National Geographic Explorer.

As usual, Wikipedia helps solve these and other riddles. Here is a list of cruise ships, replete with dates and previous names!