Certainly Antarctica is the most pristine place on earth although it is not as unspoiled as may be imagined. For more than a hundred years people have travelled to Antarctica and most parts have now been visited. More than just footprints have been left and more than just photographs have been taken. Tourists are busy exploring the scenery and greeting the penguins who live there, but scientists are raising concerns about how exposure to us could increase their risk of contracting infectious diseases.
Some Antarctic species have been taken to the verge of extinction for economic benefit. Others have been killed, soils have been contaminated, untreated sewage has been discharged into the sea and rubbish that will not decompose or break down has been left behind in even the remotest parts.
According to scientists and disease experts the immune systems of penguins, and other species in the region, are less able to deal with pathogens that are commonplace in the rest of the world because they’ve been isolated for so long with few visitors.
According to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, 37,000 tourists ventured to the region during the 2013-2014 season alone, up from an estimated 8,000 about two decades ago.
Avian pox caused a mass die-off of an estimated 400 Gentoo penguins, one of Antarctica’s four species of penguin, in 2006. That was followed by another die-off two years later. According to scientists some diseases may have been brought there by migratory birds, but they suspect we’re also responsible. The possibility of a disease outbreak also adds to the threats penguins are already facing as a result of a warming world and a growing human population. Tourists might add to the equation, but they’re not the only bearers of responsibility for the threats that could potentially impact their survival.
As the study reveals, “pollution, increased connectivity, and global environmental change affecting pathogens and vectors at high latitudes are likely to drive future disease emergence in this region.”
Recently attitudes have changed as we begin to realise that there are few unvisited places left on earth and that they are tremendously important to humanity. Antarctica’s clean air, water and ice of are of importance to science for understanding how the Earth’s environment is changing both naturally and as a result of human activity. Climate change, is already believed to be a major threat to the future survival of penguins, is also expected to result in more species coming into the area who could potentially bring diseases with them. It could also make them more vulnerable, affecting their overall health, by altering their habitat and impacting the availability of food sources they rely on.
Claire Christian of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, said, “Climate change may result in a number of stressors that make it more difficult for penguin populations to deal with disease.”
According to the study’s authors more monitoring efforts will be undertaken to keep watch on infectious diseases in penguins who live in Antarctica and as we increase our presence there and the climate continues to change and that the nations involved in the Antarctic Treaty will put protective measures in place
