Antarctica’s tourism boom raises concerns about contamination and disease

BRUSSELS — Driven in part by fears that Antarctica’s frozen landscapes will melt irreversibly because of climate change, deep-sea tourism is booming. And experts warn that growing numbers of visitors bring an increased risk of contamination, disease and other harm to the continent.

Although visitor numbers are still low – partly because of the high costs and time it can take – they are increasing so quickly that scientists and environmentalists are sounding the alarm.

A deadly outbreak of the rare hantavirus aboard a Dutch ship during a week-long polar cruise has focused attention on the growing tourism trend.

Most expeditions head to the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the fastest warming places in the world. From 2002 to 2020, about 149 billion tons (164 billion tons) of Antarctic ice melted each year, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

A common route is to travel south from Argentina to Antarctica before heading north up the African coast – the same route taken by the cruise ship MV Hondius.

“The sights you’ll see in Antarctica are extremely unique and can’t be replicated anywhere else on the planet – the whales, the seals, the penguins, the icebergs – it’s all truly breathtaking and makes a huge impression on people,” said Claire Christian, executive director of the environmental group Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition.

Explosive growth in travel to the southern continent

In 2024, more than 80,000 tourists landed on the vast ice-covered continent and 36,000 were observed from the safety of ships, according to data collected by the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators.

The International Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that tourism in Antarctica has increased tenfold over the past 30 years.

That figure could rise further over the next decade as costs fall thanks to hulls more resistant to ice hitting the water and technological advances, said Hanne Nielsen, a senior lecturer in Antarctic law at the University of Tasmania. His colleagues at the university estimate that the annual figure could triple or quadruple to more than 400,000 visits during this period.

Some tourists come to Antarctica for “last chance tourism,” knowing that the cast iron landscape is changing rapidly, Nielsen said.

Contamination risks

Authorities have indicated no evidence of contamination from the MV Hondius.

However, flocks of migratory birds have brought bird flu from South America to Antarctica in recent years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The outbreak prompted the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators and others to toughen rules for tourist conduct and hygiene to protect visitors from contamination. To protect the fragile ecosystem from large and microscopic invasive species, visitors are asked to stay away from animals and avoid touching the ground with anything other than their feet.

“There are rules that people have to follow when they head south,” Nielsen said, describing her five trips as a former guide. Crews and passengers use vacuum cleaners, disinfectants and brushes to clean shoes and equipment of bugs, feathers, seeds and microbe-carrying dirt.

“Between the tongues and the laces of the boots, you can find a lot of stuff,” she said.

Cruise ships have been hit by outbreaks of illnesses like norovirus, which can spread quickly near a ship. In 2020, a COVID-19 outbreak on the Diamond Princess turned the cruise ship into an incubator for the then-mysterious virus.

Hantavirus is usually spread by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings.

The Hondius island hopping cruise

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that the MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and traveled to Antarctica and several remote islands.

WHO is investigating possible human-to-human transmission aboard the cruise ship, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at WHO. Authorities suspect the first infected person likely contracted the virus before boarding, she said, and authorities were informed there were no rats on board.

Antarctica is governed by the Antarctic Treaty, which in 1959 established the territory as a scientific reserve used only for peaceful purposes. A series of rules that followed “aim to ensure that all visits, regardless of location, do not have a negative impact on Antarctica’s environment or its scientific and aesthetic values,” according to the treaty secretariat.

Businesses and scientific enterprises voluntarily comply with biosecurity guidelines and submit environmental impact assessments for operations in Antarctica.

The treaty was written when tourist numbers were much lower, Christian said.

“The activity needs to be regulated appropriately, as you would any sensitive and valuable ecological site in the world,” Christian said from Hiroshima, Japan, where she was preparing for an Antarctic Treaty consultative meeting. There, she will join calls to strengthen protections for Antarctic penguins, whales, seabirds, seals and krill, tiny creatures at the base of the food chain.

For now, the allure of the frozen frontier continues to lure visitors.

“You can leave a footprint in Antarctica and it’s still there 50 years later,” Christian said.

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Associated Press writer Mike Corder contributed from The Hague, Netherlands.