Antarctic penguins suffering from tourists

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2000
Antarctic penguins suffering from tourists

By Don Woolford

HOBART, Feb 2 AAP - Pioneering Australian research shows Antarctic penguins are disturbed
when tourists come close, with their heart rate jumping more than twice as much as when
a predatory bird approaches, an international conference was told today.

However, the tourist industry is resisting toughening its guidelines on how close tourists
should go to penguins.

Biologist Melissa Giese warned that with Antarctic tourist numbers expected to explode,
internationally agreed laws were needed to protect the fragile environment.

Dr Giese, who works for the University of Melbourne and the Australian Antarctic Division,
developed an electronic Adelie penguin egg which can be placed in the nest to measure
the heartbeat of nesting birds.

She used the egg and more conventional "backpack" instruments to work out how penguins
reacted when humans came close.

Dr Giese said that when humans came to within five metres - the closest distance under
guidelines set by the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) -
the penguins' heart rates increased by 52 per cent.

The rate quickly returned to normal once the human was out of sight.

By contrast, the heart rate increased 20 to 25 per cent when a skua, which preys on
penguin eggs and chicks, flew in.

Dr Giese said a heart rate jump probably would not matter if it happened occasionally.

But with 14,000 tourists expected this summer, crowding into the tiny ice-free areas
the penguins needed to breed, a bird could be disturbed 100 times.

This could lead to a significant depletion of the penguins' finely-tuned energy reserves.

Dr Giese said the Australian Antarctic Division had changed its guidelines to a minumum
of 10 metres.

But some commercial operators were resisting because, she thought, photos of tourists
close to penguins were such a big selling point.

Operators were more willing to keep helicopters at a greater distance after separate
research showed Emperor penguin chicks were disturbed by a twin-engined helicopter at
1,000 metres, the minimum distance in the IAATO guidelines.

Dr Giese said that with the growing appetite for eco-tourism, tourist numbers to the
Antarctic were projected to be 1.5 million by 2010.

More research into its impact was needed, particularly on seals.

International cooperation in developing enforceable regulations were also necessary.

"Now we have to rely on the integrity of operators and individuals," she said.

AAP dw/ej

KEYWORD: ANTARCTIC PENGUINS

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.