Antarctica, spectacular in its beauty and merciless in its brutality, is unique to this world. This continent alone has not been touched by the many battles of man. But on this very continent, much larger than America and Europe merged, more men have perished violent deaths than from natural means, for the perpetual cold does not even permit the existence of germs. A land of contrasts, however, is what it has become today for it is known to bring together men of antagonistic political principles, working hand in hand while struggling to stay comfy and warm while being three inches away from 100 temperatures below zero which has been proven to make blood freeze in a matter of seconds. When you would like to get more information on affordable antarctica tours check out this site.

Antarctica has also become very alluring for the fact that its intense cold will not enable even those with the biggest appetites to gain any weight no matter how much they consume, proving that staying there can be much better than most fad diets ever introduced. This continent is also known to be the home of a unique affliction of mass insomnia known as the big eye, brought on by the never ending daylight of the summer season, that makes more and more residents unable to sleep thanks to the glaring 3 am sunshine.

Antarctica has the strictest environmental laws on earth. Now, human excrement have to be burned by the scientific field parties and they have to urinate only into sealed barrels with the extremely stringent regulations. Merciless killing of whales and seals are limited now unlike what transpired a century ago thanks to the prerequisite of special licenses. We can thank the Americans who keep spending around 45 million dollars every year through the National Science Foundation to get into the matters of science from the evolution of mesozoic and cenozoic depositional basins of the northern Antarctic Peninsula and the South Orkney Islands, the origin of ice crystals in polar precipitaions as well as the ecological adaptation of pygoscelid penguins.

From November to mid February, a steady flow of women are coming to the work stations and this very apparent in the place called Vostok, located in close proximity to the geomagnetic pole. But as the Navy brass swears that no lady will ever spend wintertime in this continent, no female from the navy has ever really stayed there come winter. Growing pressure is being felt by the Pentagon to add more women in the wintering-over parties, both at the hub in McMurdo as well as the South Pole which is 728 miles farther down. To get a closer look on antarctica holiday visit this site.

There is one thing to be considered first, shares the senior naval officer, but apart from that we are fine with the plan. How will the spouses of the men assigned here react once they know about their husbands spending the longest night on Earth with other ladies? Answer this before we make the ladies coming in for wintering over tasks.

The Antarctic only has life in its coastline, specifically the fur bearing seals which are only sometimes residents there and this nothing compared to the Arctic wildlife, specifically the herds of caribou, polar bears along with other furred mammals, and of course, its teeming bird population. Penguins which are contrary to nature are the biggest known bird population, who cannot sing not fly but are amazingly able to hatch and lay their young in the dead of winter and even during the coldest time of the year in Antarctica.

This desolate world is home to the most abundant marine life. These voyagers were lured into the waters of Antarctica by seals and whales. Scenery is not what they came for. Oil from whales and skin of seals is what drove them here and what caused New England to become very wealthy. But among the most renowned in this was 22 year old Nathaniel Brown Palmer, a sealer captain who is credited by some to be the person who discovered the Antarctic Peninsula in 1920, thus prodding this land to be named to honor him.

Thriving right in these very waters are an approximate of 1 and a half billion metric tons of krill, four inch long crustaceans that, according to experts, are this world’s largest protein source. From under the bottoms of four seas along with the other ones washing the continental shelf the fisheries, trawlers can harvest more protein annually than what is currently being gathered annually by all the fishermen in the world’s waters combined, according to experts.

And some of the ichthyologists say it was the greed and the butchery of the sealers and whalers which produced the present huge supply of krill. Krill have been growing by the billions as their more formidable predators are nearing extinction, thanks to those who kill the baleen whales and the krill-eating seals.

Like a monument to the end of Antarctica’s age of innocence, the cruise ship’s badly gashed orange hull rises out of ice blue waters. While perching calmly upon the sunken ship, penguins look at the oil glistening on the surface of the water oblivious to the danger that lurks. Much of the diesel fuel, in tens of thousands of gallons are spilling out more than ever even as some of it evaporated already. You will gain a deeper understanding about adventure antarctica tours by checking out that resource.

At the last frontier of Earth, time is truly changing. Countries interested in reinforcing their claims to a portion of the Frozen Continent, they send in numerous bulldozers, amphibious trucks and even ships or aircraft. With fanfare that runs through their respective nations, bases are built and research projects are launched. During the austral summer, well heeled tourists arrive by the hundreds each week on cruise ships, supply vessels or military transport planes contracted by specialized travel agencies.

Not requiring any passports, the last place on Earth is a favorite venture among people coming in private yachts and polar skiing expeditions. As the countless hazardous icebergs throughout the uncharted seas of Antarctica, tons of political, legal and environmental questions punch the Earth’s final frontier and even presents harm to its wildlife take for instance, the case of the sunken cruise ship, unleashing diesel fuel that is known to be very poisonous. None of them owns the frozen continent as the Antarctic Treaty states so no laws apply then.

This treaty was entered into by exactly a dozen nation way back in the year 1961 and this paved the way for peaceful research to come into Antarctica by making them all waive their territorial claims for the next thirty years. The treaty is now participated by 8 more nations also receiving full voting powers while an additional 18 counties consented to abide by the laws while holding only observer role. Conferences held every two years are exclusive among the treaty nations. A plan that will allow a strictly regulated exploration and exploitation of Antarctica has been developed by the alliance. Grappling with issues like indemnification, air travel safety, medical and rescue operations as well as proliferation of work bases is what they have to do now. When you would like to get more information on antarctic tours check out this site.

Thirty cruises scheduled to call on Palmer brings in about a hundred tourists during the austral summer season Like a wild animal, tourism is mostly uncontrolled. The past year saw a brief ban on tourists caused by the Science Foundation who firmly thinks that tourists deter the process of research. The ban was immediately banished as influential Americans asserted their right to learn how tax money they give are being alloted.

Furthermore, the station staff is joined by a medical corpsman in charge not only of caring for a small medical room which is able to hold even up to around four dozen individuals but also accommodate them as needed. Dealing with disasters in the high seas is definitely not its strength. Only fair weather could prevent a disaster, shares the station workers. There were no longer any oars or motors on the open, inflatable rafts found in the sunken sea vessel, shared the workers. They were easily able to be towed to shore with work boats at the station for the day was very pleasant. But they could have overturned or been blown out to sea if the volatile Antarctic weather had taken a turn for the worse, the workers said.

In immediate response to the diesel spill, navy and civilian pollution containment experts with 52 tons of specialized equipment were tasked by the National Science Foundation, dedicated in their mission. Over two million dollars was what the mission went to. The navies of Chile and Argentina come in to undergo clean up missions that are costly. Even as the clean up lasted until the middle of March, the vessel that sunk still held over 63,000 gallons of fuel making it impossible to be reached and siphoned out safely which means that as the ship disintegrates, more spills will come out and once a winter storm rages, the risk of everything flowing out is much higher. Experts aver that the cost of hauling the wreckage away is very expensive.

Skuas, Arctic terns, penguins, cormorants and other birds thrive at the area of the oil spill. Many seas and whales often go through the bay. Indirect evidence linking the death of penguins and birds to the spill has been established by most scientists, but then the extent of the damage is yet to be finalized. A delegation of 15 research experts from Argentina, America and Chile are flown in to assess the impact caused by the spill to the environment. It will take years to complete, yet there is no way a claim for damages can be made.

Since the United States has no property rights to the area at or around Palmer Station, it has no legal grounds for seeking compensation The area of the accident, on the Antarctic Peninsula, is claimed by Chile, Argentina and Great Britain. Chile recently announced plans to propose, at the next Antarctic Treaty, an article to hold each country financially responsible for environmental or other damages. For the amounts spent on spill and accident clean up missions, cost sharing agreements should be set in place along with establishing an office for international emergency coordination and these are all being spearheaded the Science Foundation.

As the jumbo jet flies a group of tourists over the magnetic South Pole on a one-day excursion, the compass needle wobbles and jumps irregularly. The unceasing, chilling winds erupting in the direction of the coast, create icy sea sculptures thousands of meters beneath the jet. From the airplane windows, passengers can clearly see the snow being blown by the brisk winds.  It billows like steam over the glacier below. Read this site if you want affordable antarctica tours information.

The first explorers to reach the South Magnetic Pole in 1909 had to sledge over the dangerous ice for 134 days and 1,260 miles. But technology and innovation have changed that.  You can reach your destination in a little more than four hours if you take a flight from,.  You will be able to fly over Antarctica for hours and then fly back, all in one day!

The magnetic lines of force come together at this pole in the Southern Hemisphere, which is the reason for the erratic activity of planes’ magnetic compasses, as they fly over this frozen area. Equipped with satellite guidance and a gyroscope, the jumbo jet is able to hold it’s course. More people are aware of the geographic South Pole, which was reached in the early 1900′s.  It is about 2,500 kilometers from the magnetic South Pole. Richard E. Byrd, an American aviator, claimed to have made the first flights in the 1920s over both the North Pole and the South Pole.

On the outside of the jetliner, the Antarctic winds blow fiercely around the craft. But, the cabin inside the plane is perfect, so you can easily travel to the Antarctic in jeans, a t-shirt and flip-flops, if you wanted to! Only three hours from, the first icebergs were seen.  This started the party-like atmosphere that now filled the plane. Decorum will be left at the door, as travelers of all ages, will be looking for just the right seat to be able to see all the wonders that Antarctica has to share. This site teaches you about antarctic tours.

The icebergs increase in count as the Antarctic coast nears, with them finally piling on each other in a frozen jumble. All those aboard the plane are more than happy to share their view with the other travelers, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to see it all while you are in the air. They were then treated to the wonder of the Trans Antarctic Mountains, as well as the glaringly white ice caps that are streaked with blue.

A return to aero-tourism is marked by this flight.  Two major airlines have offered such flights over Antarctica in the past. Not only can the passengers delight in the natural wonders of Antarctica like the mountains, glaciers, coast and icebergs, but they can also see man’s influence.  They fly over an abandoned French research facility.  The continent is reclaiming it after it was severely damaged by a tidal wave. This French base isn’t too far from the Magnetic South Pole, which was first reached by geologists.