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Argentina to Study Effects of Spill in Antarctica |
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By Marcela Valente*
Although
it is a light fuel, diesel spilled by the Nordkapp cruise ship could
hurt Antarctica's biodiversity, including its emblematic penguins.
The Argentine National Directorate of the Antarctic is preparing
a study.
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 12 (Tierramérica) - The fuel
spilled from a Norwegian cruise ship in Antarctica won't leave dramatic
images of penguins covered in petroleum. But the spill is indeed
a threat to the region's fragile biodiversity, warn experts.
According to the follow-up conducted by the Argentine and Spanish
bases on Deception Island, on the western coast of the Antarctic
Peninsula, the diesel fuel may have evaporated. "We only found some
traces on the beach, and no severe damages," Mariano Memolli, head
of the Argentine National Directorate of the Antarctic, told Tierramérica.
Nevertheless, Memolli admitted that experts from the directorate
will conduct "a more in-depth study to investigate whether there
is greater impact than what is perceived at first glance."
The incident occurred on Jan. 30, when the Nordkapp cruise ship,
carrying 295 passengers and 76 crew members, ran aground at Neptune's
Bellows, a rocky area bordering Deception Island. The ship lost
500 to 700 liters of diesel, reported the Hurtigruten Group, the
company that operates the ship.
Memolli had warned of the serious threat to the penguins, killer
whales and cormorants that populate the area. When the research
bases confirmed that it was a light fuel -- not heavy petroleum
-- the scenario was ruled out, but "we must not belittle the importance
of this incident," he said.
Oscar Amín, biologist and pollution expert with the Austral Center
for Scientific Research, explained to Tierramérica that the fact
that it was light fuel has its pros and cons. "The good thing is
that most of it evaporates, the bad is that the fraction that remains
is very toxic and is soluble in water."
This could affect seaweed, bivalve shellfish and small fish species,
as well as birds -- like penguins -- that feed on those fish, he
said.
Deception Island is one of the Antarctic's Specially Protected Areas,
due to the species it holds and its scientific and touristic value.
It is a volcanic formation in the shape of a nearly-closed ring,
and is home to a wide variety of fauna, and a cove of thermal waters
where visitors can swim.
Antarctica has a total area of 14 million square kilometers. The
continent is a frozen desert, with scant flora or fauna, but it
is rich in biodiversity along its extensive coastline, where many
kinds of animals arrive to reproduce during the southern hemisphere
summer.
Also along the coast are hundreds of species of lichen and moss,
seven types of penguin (adélies, chinstrap, emperor, rockhopper,
king, gentoo and macaroni), and six kinds of petrels, as well as
albatross, cormorants, seagulls, skuas and Antarctic doves.
The sea holds hundreds of species of fish adapted to frigid temperatures,
whales (including toothed whales, blue, fin, humpback, right and
minke whales), a variety of seals (crabeater, leopard, Ross and
Weddell), sea elephants and sea lions.
"The Antarctic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to disturbances,
and have very low natural capacity for recovery," says the study
"Tourism Activities and Fragility of the Antarctic Ecosystems" (2005),
by biologist Rubén Quintana, of the University of Buenos Aires regional
ecology laboratory.
"The moss and lichen withstand the cold, the ice and the drought,
but they are very vulnerable to being trampled, and if they are
pulled out, they take years to recover," he added.
Penguins have low tolerance to human presence, he said, and noted
the dramatic reduction in the population of the penguin colony at
Cape Royds, which had to be closed to tourism. "The 10,000 annual
visitors to Deception Island could alter the conditions of that
unique environment," said Quintana.
He also warned about the risk of hydrocarbon spills. "An increase
in traffic of big tourist ships in Antarctic seas could increase
the risk of fuel spills from accidents," he said, recommending "greater
controls in order to reduce risks."
At a Feb. 5 meeting in the southern Argentine city of Ushuaia, convened
by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, executive
director Denise Landau played down the Nordkapp spill, pointing
out that it was the first in 45 years of tours to Antarctica.
But she did not count the sinking of the Argentine navy ship Bahía
Paraíso.
In 1989, the ship ran aground the coast of Anvers Island, where
the Palmer base, of the United States, is located. The ship carried
tourists and scientists, and was evacuated before it sank.
The incident caused a spill of 600,000 liters of gasoil, creating
a slick covering 100 square kilometers. Mollusks, cormorants, penguins
and other species were the fatal victims of that disaster.
A study by Argentina's Naval Hydrography Service conducted in 2001
found that, 12 years after the spill, the sunken shell of the Bahía
Paraíso had a chronic fuel leak that was visible on the water's
surface.
Given such long-term risks, Memolli said that in the framework of
the Antarctic Treaty (in force since 1961), Argentina proposed prevention
of the cumulative impact of visits to sensitive areas like Deception
Island -- but that debate is just beginning.
* Marcela Valente is an IPS correspondent. |
