This indicator is no longer maintained, and is considered OBSOLETE. INDICATOR DEFINITION A count of visits and visitor numbers to Australian Antarctic Territory sites and Australia's sub-Antarctic islands by Australian and overseas tour operators and private vessels. Data are also available for Australian tour operators that visit other (non-AAT) areas of the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands. TYPE OF INDICATOR There are three types of indicators used in this report: 1.Describes the CONDITION of important elements of a system; 2.Show the extent of the major PRESSURES exerted on a system; 3.Determine RESPONSES to either condition or changes in the condition of a system. This indicator is one of: PRESSURE RATIONALE FOR INDICATOR SELECTION Shipborne Antarctic tourist numbers have quadrupled in the past fifteen years. Antarctic tourism is expected to continue to exhibit high growth, particularly if more large cruise ships begin operating there. Antarctic tourism is currently concentrated around the Antarctic Peninsula area and associated sub-Antarctic islands. Apart from visits to Australia's sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island (which is managed by the State of Tasmania), there are currently only limited tourist visits to the AAT and other Australian sub-Antarctic islands. It is, however, important to track these activities due to the potential risk of cumulative environmental impact: the areas of most interest to tourists are those with concentrations of wildlife, with unique physical or biotic characteristics, or with heritage sites. Increased visits by tourist ships in Antarctic waters also increase the potential for oil spills, wildlife disturbance, effluent/waste discharges and introduced diseases. DESIGN AND STRATEGY FOR INDICATOR MONITORING PROGRAM Spatial scale: Australian Antarctic Territory and Australian sub-Antarctic islands visited by tour operators. Data from the Antarctic Peninsula (not Australian territory) is also included, from 2001-02 onwards, based on the reports of Australian tour operators who operate on the Peninsula. Note that Australian operators typically carry fewer than 10% of the total number of tourists in the Peninsula region, so the data does not reflect the overall pressure on that region. Frequency: Collected/reported annually, based on austral summer season for tour activities. Measurement technique: Data collected via initial environmental impacts assessments (EIAs) provided by operators/owners and via post visit reports. These data can be collated as required. Data on tourist visits/activities are also collected by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), although this information is predominantly about operators who are members of IAATO. Australia must provide information on private vessel activities in the Antarctic Treaty Area as part of Antarctic Treaty reporting obligations. Information from operators is also sought, and provided in the EIAs, on the type of operation and tourist activities and measures taken to minimise environmental impacts, e.g. oil spills contingencies. RESEARCH ISSUES Several issues are of concern with regard to increased tourism activity in the Antarctic region. The potential for cumulative impacts needs to be explored and methods developed to identify and quantify impacts at specific sites. Increased tourist and ship activity has the potential to cause pollution. Implications for increased pollutant loads in Antarctic ecosystems need to be addressed and acceptable levels of pollutants need to be identified. The introduction of exotic pests and/or diseases due to tourist activities has the potential to considerably affect Antarctic ecosystems. Work needs to be done to assess introductions that may occur and that have already occurred, and the impacts of these introductions.

This layer is stored as two datasets (point and polygon)in the Geographical Information System (GIS). Points represent landing areas, mammal, flying bird and penguin data. Polygons represent the horizontal flight limits of helicopters and areas set aside for specific management purposes.

Taken from sections of the Report (paraphrased): Introduction In August 1991, I was approached to go to Antarctica for 3 months, detached to AUSLIG, to conduct survey tasks at Mawson and Heard Island over the 1991/1992 field season. The following is my report to AUSLIG/ANTARCTIC Division outlining all results of my participation in the field season. The Mawson campaign began on 01 Dec 91, with the departure of RSV Aurora Australis from Hobart. The experience of working in Antarctica was invaluable and the opportunity to contribute to the scientific development of the AAT was appreciated. In terms of achievement the season was a success, with only a small number of pre-assigned field tasks in the Mawson and Heard Island areas not being completed. Operations Several tasks were required to be conducted over the field season, in accordance with briefs received prior to departure. A sequence of events is attached. SCAR 92 GPS Project. GPS Observation Pillar Tide Gauge Deployment Colbeck Archipelago and Taylor Glacier Scullin Monolith On Station Control Photo Identification of Off-Shore Control Heard Island Miscellaneous

The Australian Antarctic Division holds a collection of approximately 5,500 maps and charts. A catalogue of its holdings can be searched in detail and viewed in the SCAR Antarctic Map Catalogue. The Map Catalogue includes many historical maps dating back to the mid 1800's, thematic maps such as geological, vegetation and bathymetry maps, hydrographic charts, topographical maps, satellite image maps and orthophoto maps. Maps for work purposes are provided to Antarctic Expeditioners and AAD staff free of charge. Members of the public may be directed to mapping sales outlets. Contact the technical officer (below) for details. Many maps in the catalogue are digital maps available for download. These maps are provided free of charge. The Data Centre employs a Map Curator for adding, updating and correcting map references. The Map Curator is also responsible for storing and manageing the physical copies of maps in the Data Centre Map store. If there are any errors, please advise the Data Centre using the links on the Map Catalogue page.

Heard Island Expedition, 16 November 1986 to 21 January 1987, report written by Rod Ledingham, Officer in Charge. Taken from the report: The 1986-87 expedition was the second in a series of three consecutive expeditions planned to conduct new scientific work and to check on changes since the early wintering years from 1948-1954 and more recent sporadic visits by various government and private expeditions. We were dropped off at Heard Island on the 14th November 1986 by the Nella Dan. The main thrust of this expedition was originally to have been geological but this was later expanded to cover biology and archaeology. Transport was provided by three Hughes 500 helicopters, old faithfuls VH-BAD piloted by John Robertson and VH-BAG piloted by Doug Crossan, and a new arrive from NZ, VH-HED flown by Phillip Turner, to provide speedy access to all areas of rock, either coastal or at high altitude on the mountain. Of particular interest to the geologists were the lavas of the January 1985 Big Ben eruption spotted by observers including Dick Williams, on the French vessel Marion Dufresne. Despite some initial doubts about the possibility of flying, or even holding, aircraft at Heard for any length of time, and numerous relatively minor problems with weather and wind blown volcanic sand, the operation went very well and a great deal of new ground was covered, including several flights to the summit of Big Ben and the discovery of a new active crater and the expedition lava flows on the south-western slopes at Cape Arkona. Two geologists accompanied the expedition, Jane Barling and Graeme Wheller. Geological mapping of the whole island was carried out by Jane where access was not too difficult or dangerous. Jane had previously worked on the samples brought back from Long Ridge and the summit by the Heard Island Expedition (private) on Anaconda II in 1983. The original map produced by Ainsworth in 1947 will be greatly improved when the material has been studied in more detail. The second geologist Graeme studied the relationships of the more recent lavas and attempted to get samples from the summit vent. The failure to do so was somewhat ameliorated by the finding of the new lava which it appears had emanated from the summit vent pipe and samples of summit rock were therefore available from 700m above Cape Arkona. Further information about the botanical and biological work is available in the report.

State of the Environment bibliography, compiled by Ewan McIvor. Contains 51 records. The fields in this dataset are: author year journal title volume pages publisher place of publication copy on file URL keywords