Antarctic Wonders Lure Cruise Tourists
Tourists from the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov survey the Antarctic landscape in this undated photo.
Many of the ships and crew that currently ply the Antarctic waters are inexperienced with the icy conditions and fast-changing weather, Jon Bowermaster, a National Geographic Society Expeditions Council grantee, told National Geographic News.
Many of the ships are enormous and properly not equipped to withstand blows from the ice, he added.
The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, an association of environmental groups, is concerned with the impact on marine life in case of a fuel spill from a sinking ship.
