Latest news with #subAntarctic
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Department of Conservation to hike fees to visit sub-Antarctic islands
Wandering Albatross chicks on nests on Antipodes Island in the New Zealand sub-Antarctic Islands. Photo: Andris Apse The cost of visiting the sub-Antarctic islands will significantly increase, as the Department of Conservation proposes hiking its fees for the first time in a decade. About 1500 tourists visit the islands each year - most of them sailing with one of the six cruise operators who hold permits. Documents released under the Official Information Act revealed the Visitor Impact Management fee could more than double from $405 (excluding GST) per tourist to just over $1000 by the 2027/28 season. An independent review of the sub-Antarctic entry permit and concession fees recommended significantly increasing them to recover costs associated with tourism and to reflect market value. The concession activity fee would also jump from $30 per person to $171 - a more than five-fold increase. A long-time tourism operator said the increase and timeframe came as a shock. RNZ has approached DOC for comment. The documents showed the review into two of the five fees paid by concessionaires - expedition operators - was commissioned at the end of last year, with the final report delivered in June. "The review found the concession activity fee, last reviewed in 2015, was not at market value and that the entry permit VIM fee, last reviewed in 2014, was not appropriately recovering DOC costs for managing cruise ships visiting the islands," DOC said. "The review recommended DOC markedly increase both fees and DOC approved the recommended increases to fees on 30 June 2025." DOC said the concession fee contributed to general track and hut maintenance, and pest control, while the VIM went directly into costs related to managing the sub-Antarctic islands. The report said the average annual cost of managing the islands was about $6.4 million, of which $1.5 million could be recovered by the VIM. A DOC memo said the updated fees were a "significant increase for tourist operators, so it will be crucial to discuss the new fees further with them". "Concessionaires have already priced and are advertising trips through to the 2026/27 season." While operators had been advised of the review in September 2024 - and therefore could have made provisions - it said they may be surprised as "they can't reasonably have predicted the extent of change". Commercial director of long-time operator Heritage Expeditions Aaron Russ said he was concerned about the short-time frame and hoped to have a discussion with DOC before the fees kicked in. He said the sharpness of the increase was unexpected and he was disappointed that there hadn't been more consultation beforehand. "It was probably shock in the first instance, the degree of the increases as significant as the immediate nature of the increases. We organise and schedule our voyages 2-3 years in advance. "DOC's well aware of that scheduling timeframe, so the increases that have come about for the upcoming season are exceptionally short notice." Russ said the company was upfront with customers about the fees and collected them on DOC's behalf. He said he wanted to have a meeting with DOC to discuss the changes and better understand where the money was going, before informing clients. Russ said visitor levies should contribute to New Zealand's conservation, but were only one part of the picture. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
ABC News
03-08-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Australian scientists record accelerating glacier loss on sub-Antarctic Heard Island
Glaciers on the remote Australian territory of Heard Island have lost almost a quarter of their size in the past seven decades amid rising temperatures in the sub-Antarctic region, new research shows. The World Heritage-listed sub-Antarctic island, 4,100 kilometres south-west of Perth, is considered one of the most pristine places on the planet and a haven for wildlife. It's also home to the tallest mountain in Australia's external territories — a 2,745-metre-high active volcano called Big Ben, which is 517 metres taller than Mt Kosciuszko on the mainland. But scientists from Monash University's Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SAEF) research centre said glacier coverage on the island was undergoing accelerating decline. The research team used topographic maps and satellite imagery to identify changes to 29 glaciers on the island between 1947 and 2019. The study showed the loss of 64 square kilometres of glacier coverage over the 72-year period — a 22 per cent decline. The team said the rate of ice loss after 1988 was double that seen beforehand. The reduction in the island's glaciers occurred as temperatures in the area increased by 0.7 degrees Celcius. "While Heard Island is just about as remote as it's possible to be on Earth, it has still suffered profound consequences from climate warming, which is almost certainly due to rising greenhouse gas emissions in the 20th and 21st centuries," Dr Tielidze said. "The island's location in the Southern Ocean makes it a key part of the global climate system and an important indicator of the planet's health. The study has been published in the academic journal, The Chryosphere, ahead of a planned research voyage to Heard Island and nearby McDonald Island in late September. The RSV Nuyina will take almost two weeks to sail from Hobart to the remote islands, where science teams, including glaciologists, will conduct research for about 10 days. It will be the first Australian Antarctic Program voyage to the islands in almost 20 years, and will be followed up with a second voyage there in December. Professor Andrew Mackintosh, from Monash University, said the mission would allow researchers to better understand the impact of glacier retreat on the island's mountain biodiversity. "We'll explore two possible futures — one where strong action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and another where little is done and emissions continue as usual," Professor Mackintosh said. "Although this mapping shows stark glacier retreat and further ice loss is unavoidable, whether we retain glaciers or lose most of them entirely is up to humans and the greenhouse gas emission pathway we follow.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Antarctic seal numbers falling drastically due to melting sea ice, research shows
Antarctic seal populations are drastically declining as the sea ice melts around them, new research has shown. Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have been monitoring the seal population in the sub-Antarctic since the 1970s, looking in particular at three different seal species in the sub-Antarctic on Signy Island: Weddell seals, Antarctic fur seals and southern elephant seals. Using satellite records from as far back as 1982, the research team compared annual changes in sea ice concentration with seal population counts conducted since 1977. With five decades worth of data spanning a period of long-term warming and temporary cooling between 1998 and 2014, they were able to draw a comprehensive picture of how seal populations react to changing ice conditions, something shorter-term studies would not be able to achieve. The study, published in the scientific journal Global Change Biology, found Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii), which rely on stable sea ice to rest, breed and feed, had declined by 54% since 1977. Similarly, Antarctic fur seals (arctocephalus gazella), which breed on land but are affected by food chain shifts, have declined by 47%. The findings challenge previous assumptions that the population in the South Orkneys had stabilised. Southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina), despite sharing similar population trends, presented 'no significant overall long-term decline'. The study serves to emphasise the 'vital importance of long-term ecological monitoring' as well as the interconnectedness between the three species of seal and sea ice conditions. Michael Dunn, lead author of the study, said: 'For once, we're not just predicting how wildlife might respond to shrinking sea ice and environmental shifts, we've had the rare opportunity to confirm it, using solid, long-term data. The emerging picture is deeply concerning.' In light of the BAS's findings, researchers have also raised concerns about how climate breakdown is affecting the Antarctic food web, relied on by all three species.
The Guardian
18-06-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Antarctic seal numbers falling drastically due to melting sea ice, research shows
Antarctic seal populations are drastically declining as the sea ice melts around them, new research has shown. Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have been monitoring the seal population in the sub-Antarctic since the 1970s, looking in particular at three different seal species in the sub-Antarctic on Signy Island: Weddell seals, Antarctic fur seals and southern elephant seals. Using satellite records from as far back as 1982, the research team compared annual changes in sea ice concentration with seal population counts conducted since 1977. With five decades worth of data spanning a period of long-term warming and temporary cooling between 1998 and 2014, they were able to draw a comprehensive picture of how seal populations react to changing ice conditions, something shorter-term studies would not be able to achieve. The study, published in the scientific journal Global Change Biology, found Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii), which rely on stable sea ice to rest, breed and feed, had declined by 54% since 1977. Similarly, Antarctic fur seals (arctocephalus gazella), which breed on land but are affected by food chain shifts, have declined by 47%. The findings challenge previous assumptions that the population in the South Orkneys had stabilised. Southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina), despite sharing similar population trends, presented 'no significant overall long-term decline'. The study serves to emphasise the 'vital importance of long-term ecological monitoring' as well as the interconnectedness between the three species of seal and sea ice conditions. Michael Dunn, lead author of the study, said: 'For once, we're not just predicting how wildlife might respond to shrinking sea ice and environmental shifts, we've had the rare opportunity to confirm it, using solid, long-term data. The emerging picture is deeply concerning.' Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion In light of the BAS's findings, researchers have also raised concerns about how climate breakdown is affecting the Antarctic food web, relied on by all three species.
