Raging snow, ice, isolation, high winds and raging seas of Antarctica still lure in more and more travelers especially the hardy types which means that the White Continent will be able to welcome again around 11,200 people come tourists season, where all of them except for only about 130, will be venturing there riding a cruise liner. Such a total may only be 400 people more than the number of visitors last season, specifically from mid November through February, it was still able to jump 70 percent higher than the previous 6,585 seasons that Antarctica opened itself to tourists. Some Antarctica watchers, are concerned about its environment, have warned there could be thousand more annual Antarctic visitors. As a person looking for arctic cruise you should visit that site.

Cruising around the White Continent entails paying $20,000 for just one person, for an average two week cruise amounts to $6,000 to $7,000 however this does not stop for he will still have to purchase a round trip ticket as he will originate from Tierra del Fuego found in Ushuaia, Argentina, where 90 percent of the travelers choose to depart from. Within the falsehood that Antarctica is invincible against the many throngs of tourists invading them despite high costs of going there and fierce climate and geography, environmental experts maintain that these occurrences are extremely damaging to the ecosystem of the White Continent.

The distinguished director of the Antarctic Project said that while he is all for people seeing the great beauty of Antarctica, there must be a cap on the number of visitors per year and a strong limit on exploiting new sites. This Washington based project is secretariat for more than 200 conservation organizations in more than 40 countries. There is still harm in the fact that people heading to Antarctica come back committed to its conservation as this is a very fragile land and there can sometimes be too many visitors flooding in most of who are getting to love it too much.

One area which has the biggest concentration of seals, birds and penguins is the one place frequented by many tourists so this director is pushing for a 6,000 yearly limit for visitors especially in this 800 mile long Antarctic Peninsula. Although tour groups, at a time, rarely exceed a hundred visitors stepping on land. It is sad that animals are bothered as they rest, and neither can they get some food for their babies or for their own selves so this is very harmful. Read this site if you want travel arctic information.

Science doesn’t yet know whether this will have long term impact she added. Among the growing concerns of watchers are the fact that tourists will touch plants and not dispose garbage properly. By reinforcing the Antarctic Treaty, we understand why when travelers go ashore, large and experienced staffs make sure they have very little impact if none at all, and this also sheds light as to why most tour operators abide by such environmental guidelines. Agreements from the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which was agreed on by 43 countries hand in hand with the January 14, 1998 environmental protocol put a stop to mining and oil drilling, along with safety measures for the environment that limits fishing trips and occasional cruises throughout the geography of the White Continent.

The association of tour members, which is based in New York, saw to it that they all adopted the 100 person limit for shore visits, also employing zodiacs, which are motorized rubber boats for good reasons. This season saw 9 out of the 15 vessels flying Russian flags around the White Continent. With the Soviet Union’s break up, an opportunity for tour operators came as several small ships have been made available. As for the passengers, about 40 to 80 are welcome in these vessels, including an icebreaker and several others with hardened hulls that can resist strong ice. But then there is persisting concern toward the environment of Antarctica. We can only hope that one day in the future, we can look back and laughed at how we worried when there was not a problem at all. For us who are waiting for science to come up with answers, let us answer the call of limiting our own travels to this alluring continent.