Wednesday 14 October 2015

Arctic cruising with less impact — how?

I am on a quest, looking for positive environmental impacts, and I am to meet Ko de Korte, the mind behind the Cleaning the shores trip to Svalbard by Oceanwide Expeditions. Ko is a 72-year old biologist, who stayed a Winter studying polar bears on Edgeøya 1968-69 and guided around the Galapagos. He now lives in an apartment block made to look like a container ship. It stands on pillars in the water and I access it via a windy pier.

Almost immediately, Ko puts me on the spot, asking me how they can do it better next time. Before answering, thoughts like 'What do I know about arctic tourism' but I collect myself and blurt what I thought before going on the Cleaning trip:
– I would like to do something in relation plastic microbeads. At least see how much there is up there. The 5gyres.org has a special trawler net in a suitcase for volunteers who want to trawl the seas for microbeads, so maybe it could be borrowed for the next trip. I was about to contact them before going, but didn't, not knowing what the customs people would say about it…

Well, that's how it goes. One has to offer something to get something. I had thought I could share my findings with the trip organizers, but Ko asked for something more, something concrete.

We talk at length about the designing of trips and what they try to do to reduce the environmental impact. "Often passengers ask, 'can we not go a little faster?, to make up for weather delays, to see more, to get there quicker… What they don't understand is that going a little faster than optimum speed, let's say 12 knots instead of 9 knots or so, is that this doubles the fuel usage. People don't really know this." He gazes straight ahead, out the window into the grey skies, sighs lightly and continues. "It's a lot about traveling shorter distances with the ship. That's how we introduced the 'base camp' where you stay for a longer time in one place, exploring it in more depth, thereby saving substantially on fuel." 
– So, what about the Cleaning the shores trip. Was that an average or a fuel-consuming trip?
– Average. His answer is brief and concise.

He expresses skepticism about tree-planting compensation schemes and prefers to involve the travelers in direct action, however small. "So there is now at least 13 cubic meters less on beaches that have not been cleaned before. And maybe we saved the life of one bird, thus giving it a chance to reproduce. In an evolutionary perspective…  in the long run, this can of course have a huge importance."
He turns his head and looks straight at me. "Would you go again?"
"Yes, I probably would."
"End of June, next year, on the West coast of Svalbard. That's the most snow-free part then. Will you come?"

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