The sinking of the passenger ship Explorer, while on a cruise to Antarctica, has raised concerns from a shipping union over the operation of cruise ships in increasingly remote locations. The union, Nautilus UK, points out that the sinking of the Explorer, is the latest in a series of similar incidents, recording at least three others in 2007 alone.
Only three months ago, seven passengers on board the Aleksey Maryshev were injured when part of a glacier fell onto the deck of the ship, while it was on an adventure cruise in the Arctic.
Understandably, questions are being asked about the suitability of some ships to operate in increasingly exotic, dangerous and remote environments, where they are often a very long way from adequate search and rescue cover.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is again sailing to the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary to save Humpback, Fin and Minke whales from Japanese whalers.
It appears that some of the recent media coverage has been misleading. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society reports that it does not use violence and never has used violence and is not threatening violence. Apparently, in a ramming incident last year, it was a Japanese whaling ship that rammed the Sea Shepherd ship.
The Japanese will only be stopped by economic and social pressure. Copy this post and send it to a few friends, telling them what you think of the Japanese whalers. Let's use the power of bloggers to let the Japanese know what the world thinks about a country that allows its countrymen to engage in whaling.
A Japanese whaling fleet has set off on an expedition targeting humpback, fin and minke whales, in the Antarctic. The fleet aims to catch over 1,000 whales before returning to port early next year.
In defiance of world agreements and opinion, the whalers are expected to kill about 50 fin whales, which environmentalists say are a critically endangered species and also about 50 humpback whales, well known for their picturesque silhouette and acrobatic breaching.
Greenpeace said its Esperanza campaign ship was in waters off Japan, waiting to intersect the fleet in the coming days to demand that the expedition returns home. The endangered animals are currently migrating south along the Australian coast and The Australian government and people, are being pro-active in attempting to bring both political and social pressure on Japan. More.
Following yesterday's post about the Floriade in Canberra, I was looking for an end of week video full of Australian sunshine but then I stumbled upon this great time-lapse footage of the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights photographed and edited by Anthony (Antz) Powell.
The Southern Lights are the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights and they were filmed during the Antarctic winter in the general vicinity of McMurdo Station and Scott Base, where the sun is below the horizon for 4 months of the year; that's one long night. To give you an idea of how much the light shows were moving in real time, most of the shots were taken over about a 10 minute period.
Antz has spent many years compiling fantastic time-lapse video in Antarctica and is producing a film 'Antarctica Time Lapse: A Year on Ice' about this incredible landscape.
