The Antarctica Files: Studying blogs of Antarctic tourists

HA! A blog post by an Antarctic tourist about a paper studying the blogs of Antarctic tourists!

Being there: examining the behaviour of Antarctic tourists through their blogs

*Very* fun idea! If you want to know how tourists are behaving/interacting with environment and wildlife of Antarctica when they visit, you could hitch a ride with a bunch of tour groups and spy on everyone-- or you could sit at home in your warm office and study what these tourists have reported/posted on their blogs!

I was momentarily terrified I was quoted at some point for doing something wrong, as I fit the paper criteria-- people who visited Antarctica 2007-2010 and visited Deception Island. Alas, they stopped collecting June 2010, so I wasnt (we really did try to do everything right). But I went there. I saw the ruins at Whalers Bay. Some in my group went 'swimming' (volcano powered hot-tub- but we didnt dig into the sand. they just ran into the water).

And thats what they found-- Most people tried to do things according to the rules, but occasionally and briefly, tourists would screw up, either knowingly or unknowingly. Few/Tiny breaches add up when youre talking about 150,000 visitors a year. I wouldnt trade my Antarctica experience for anything, so I cant begrudge anyone else who wants to visit. So if you are going to Antarctica, try, try to follow the rules, and pressure your boat-mates to do the same... And make sure you blog about it for those of us who cant be there!