BAH-DING: “Hello, Expeditioners, and thank you for your patience,” the intercom on Aurora Expeditions’s ship, the Sylvia Earle, greets those preparing to disembark for a landing on the Antarctica Peninsula, “We have been delayed today, as we suspect there could be Avian Flu on land, so our landing will be changed to a Zodiac-only ride. Thank you for understanding.”
On Feb. 9, the first confirmed case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was discovered in Antarctica near Argentina’s Primavera Station and confirmed on Feb. 24 by the Spanish National Research Council. While Avian Flu, the common name for HPAI, has been around since the 1800s, scientists have been tracking this recent strain, H5N1, as it decimates bird populations throughout the Americas. The spread has been a gradual movement from north to south and, now, crossing the treacherous Drake Passage to Antarctica. The infection is changing the physical and metaphorical landscape of Antarctica and is yet another pressure being heaped upon the turbulent Antarctic tourism industry.
I arrived on the Antarctica Peninsula on March 11, when the hypotheses, data collection, and general knowledge of what was happening around Avian Flu in Antarctica was under-represented. Now, 10 months have passed since the first confirmed case, hundreds of people have helped collect data to improve the science, and scientists are just now beginning to grasp the situation.
So, my 18-day stint in March was at the tail end of the season (the best time to see penguin chicks is the middle of the Antarctic tourism season, late January through February) and filled with whales, molting penguins soon to migrate north, flocks of birds, and ample seals. At the time, very little was happening with Avian Flu, but pockets of confirmed cases were present.
“On the Antarctic Peninsula, so far, most outbreaks have been small . . . mainly impacting skua populations [a scavenger bird],” says Dr. Meagan Dewar, a Wildlife Biologist at the Federation University Australia, who specializes in pathogens of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic wildlife. “However, two high mortality events were reported in March—one in skuas at Beak Island and another in Adelie penguins at Heroina Island. For now, HPAI has been confirmed at nine different locations along the Antarctic Peninsula, with the majority of the cases located at the tip, along the Trinity Peninsula and Northern Weddell Sea.”
New rules on the ice are aimed at protecting wildlife from Avian Flu.
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Our landing site was at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, around a penguin colony, on the Waddle Sea side. Despite not being able to land from our Zodiac, we were greeted by hundreds of porpoising penguins, a humpback whale and its calf feeding, curious seals popping up near our Zodiac, and Albatross soaring on thermals.
“There is still a lot of unknowns about how this virus will spread in Antarctic wildlife,” says Dewar. “It is very difficult to monitor the movement and spread within a population . . . Our knowledge is still very limited.”
But rather than shooing travelers away, some expedition are now actively recruiting guests to help fill that knowledge gap.
Cue another BAH-DING: “Hello, Expeditioners, for those of you who want to participate in the data collection of birds, please come on down to the Lecture Theatre so you can learn how to contribute to science.”
When it comes to scientific research in Antarctica, there is a bottleneck. Few scientists are capable of traveling for long durations, can acquire the financial backing needed, and are knowledgeable enough to head to Antarctica to conduct new research projects. But, most expedition cruise ship operators to Antarctica host a citizen science program.
Increasingly visitors are being asked to remain in their Zodiacs to protect wildlife from exposure.
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“Many of the tourism vessels visit colonies that are not regularly visited and analyzed by scientists, or national programs,” says Dewar. “So, they provide an extra set of eyes in the region and can be very useful for identifying and reporting suspected cases of HPAI, and other diseases, or unusual mortality events that may otherwise go unnoticed.”
Additionally, many of the vessels visit the same locations year after year and can provide valuable information on changes in wildlife colonies. Last season, many of the reported cases of suspected HPAI and mortality events in the sub-Antarctic were discovered and reported by tourism vessels.
Ships operated by Abercrombie & Kent, Aurora Expeditions, HX Hurtigruten Expeditions, Lindblad Expeditions, Quark Expeditions, Viking Cruises, and AdventureSmith Explorations are a few with citizen science programs. Nevertheless, tourists are still part of the problem, and that’s why even amateur scientists are subject to strict biosecurity measures.
Cruises want guests to be a part of the solution.
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“Biosecurity measures have always been in place for Antarctica,” said Todd Smith, founder of AdventureSmith. “As anyone who’s been to Antarctica knows, boot washing every time you return to the ship and ‘Don’t Pack a Pest’ guidelines have been long-standing. Due to the threat of bird flu, additional protocols evolved to include: visitor site assessment of signs of HPAI in wildlife colonies before landing; maintaining a minimum distance of 15 feet from Antarctic wildlife; refraining from sitting, kneeling, crouching/squatting or lying down on the ground or snow; and refraining from leaving any equipment on the ground close to animal activity.”
For one, that means no more tripods on the ice. But is it a half measure? Is it best simple abandon ship to save the birds?
“If we are not there, we cannot see what is happening, confirm its presence, [nor] understand how the virus is moving, how it affects species, or the overall impact HPAI is having,” says Dewar. “With appropriate biosecurity and safety protocols in place, it is safe to visit Antarctica and the risk of spreading HPAI is low.”
