Wildlife and oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster
ABSTRACT The increasing rate of incidents involving vessels in the Southern Ocean (including vessels sinking) has highlighted the potential for substantial fuel spills into the Antarctic environment. An increasing number of tourist and fishing vessels, often without ice strengthened hulls, are penet...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2012
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000763 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247411000763 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247411000763 2024-09-15T17:45:44+00:00 Wildlife and oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster Ruoppolo, Valeria Woehler, Eric J. Morgan, Kerri Clumpner, Curtiss J. 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000763 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247411000763 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 49, issue 2, page 97-109 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 journal-article 2012 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000763 2024-08-07T04:04:40Z ABSTRACT The increasing rate of incidents involving vessels in the Southern Ocean (including vessels sinking) has highlighted the potential for substantial fuel spills into the Antarctic environment. An increasing number of tourist and fishing vessels, often without ice strengthened hulls, are penetrating farther into, and staying longer in, Antarctic waters, with a focus for destinations of wildlife concentrations. Based on a survey of national operators in the Antarctic, there is little preparation for an oil spill event that involves Antarctic wildlife. This is a recipe for a catastrophic spill event, with the potential for high numbers of oiled wildlife in a remote part of the world where there are major logistical constraints on the provision of equipment and skilled response personnel. Here we chronicle shipping incidents that have led to oil spills in the Southern Ocean, the current legislation and contingency plans currently in place by national Antarctic operators, and examine their preparedness and expertise for an oiled wildlife event response. It is clear that national, fishing and tourism operators are manifestly unprepared for an oiled wildlife event in the Southern Ocean. We identify five critical constraints to any response and provide recommendations that address these constraints. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Polar Record Southern Ocean Cambridge University Press Polar Record 49 2 97 109 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT The increasing rate of incidents involving vessels in the Southern Ocean (including vessels sinking) has highlighted the potential for substantial fuel spills into the Antarctic environment. An increasing number of tourist and fishing vessels, often without ice strengthened hulls, are penetrating farther into, and staying longer in, Antarctic waters, with a focus for destinations of wildlife concentrations. Based on a survey of national operators in the Antarctic, there is little preparation for an oil spill event that involves Antarctic wildlife. This is a recipe for a catastrophic spill event, with the potential for high numbers of oiled wildlife in a remote part of the world where there are major logistical constraints on the provision of equipment and skilled response personnel. Here we chronicle shipping incidents that have led to oil spills in the Southern Ocean, the current legislation and contingency plans currently in place by national Antarctic operators, and examine their preparedness and expertise for an oiled wildlife event response. It is clear that national, fishing and tourism operators are manifestly unprepared for an oiled wildlife event in the Southern Ocean. We identify five critical constraints to any response and provide recommendations that address these constraints. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ruoppolo, Valeria Woehler, Eric J. Morgan, Kerri Clumpner, Curtiss J. |
spellingShingle |
Ruoppolo, Valeria Woehler, Eric J. Morgan, Kerri Clumpner, Curtiss J. Wildlife and oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster |
author_facet |
Ruoppolo, Valeria Woehler, Eric J. Morgan, Kerri Clumpner, Curtiss J. |
author_sort |
Ruoppolo, Valeria |
title |
Wildlife and oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster |
title_short |
Wildlife and oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster |
title_full |
Wildlife and oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster |
title_fullStr |
Wildlife and oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wildlife and oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster |
title_sort |
wildlife and oil in the antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000763 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247411000763 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Polar Record Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Polar Record Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 49, issue 2, page 97-109 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000763 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
49 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
97 |
op_container_end_page |
109 |
_version_ |
1810493635261628416 |