Leisure activities of station staff and scientists

The leisure behaviour of station members plays an i mportant role with regard to potential negative effects on flora and fauna. In a representative survey of station staff and scientists, it became clear that 70 % of the people interviewed spend more than six hours a week (and thus a considerable part of their leisure time) in the open (Peter et al., 2008). Therefore, in the framework of the daily field work, the leisure behaviour of station members outside station grounds was registered.

All told, station members engaged in a wide range of leisure activities over large parts of the Fildes Region. Because of the large number of people living and working in the stations, and because of the size of the study area, these activities can only be presented in the form of examples. In this context, special attention was paid to ASPA No. 150 Ardley Island, which, according to the management plan (ATS, 2009e), may only be visited with a valid permit and only for scientific purposes or for reasons of essential management. Yet, in all three field seasons observations were made that clearly contradict the existing regulations for ASPA No. 150 (Sec. 3.4.3).

90

Above all, members of a neighbouring station frequently visited the island in groups of up to 19 people. It was not always possible to distinguish between scientific and tourist activities, among other things because scientists were often accompanied by other people. In some cases these people stayed in penguin colonies for a long time, to film and to photograph (Fig.

82). People were also observed moving so quickly in the middle of the colony that the animals clearly exhibited flight reactions. On a number of occasions, people also moved away from the existing path into areas with denser vegetation and thus disturbed breeding birds (skuas, gulls, and terns), sometimes even deliberately. Visitors from other stations moved either directly along the north coast of the island or along the existing path and were, in comparison, more careful with respect to minimum distances or general behaviour in the penguin colony.

Furthermore, driving on A rdley Island with vehicles was documented in the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons for the first time in a number of years (pers. comm. M. Kopp) (Sec. 3.3.3), although all vehicle use is strictly forbidden in ASPA No. 150 (ATS, 2009e).

Members of all stations located there regularly go for walks in the Fildes Peninsula area.

When doing this, they mainly use the existing road network. However, in the coastal area between the Ardley Isthmus and Great Wall station, and on the Drake Coast, we frequently observed definite disturbance of resting seals and penguins by visitors, who sometimes approached the animals very closely (Fig. 83). According to a subjective estimate by the project member, this leisure behaviour outside stations and ex isting roads increased considerably, especially in the 2008/09 season. Here again, it was not always possible to

Fig. 66: Station members as visitors in the penguin colony on Ardley Island (photo: C. Braun, 11.01.2009).

Fig. 67: Typical example of a station member posing for a photo (photo:

C. Braun, 25.12.2009).

91

differentiate accurately between scientific and tourist activities. In January 2009, one person was observed on the summit of Flat Tops (pers. comm. A. Casanova-Katny). The reason for climbing this hard-to-reach rock, on the side of which light-mantled sooty albatross had been shown to be breeding (Sec. 3.1.1), is not known.

Furthermore, activities included motorised excursions by groups of people, sometimes large groups, to the Priroda field hut in the extreme north-west of the Fildes Peninsula, as well as the sport of snow kiting, which to our knowledge is new in the region. This was regularly practised, for example with the aid of skidoos in the winter and spring of 2008 on the frozen Kitezh Lake, and in the summer of 2008/09 as well as in the winter of 2010 on the Collins glacier (Fig. 84).

Collecting fossils and m inerals represents a further leisure activity. As already known, rich fossil areas, for example in the vicinity of the Collins glacier (site 125c of ASPA No. 125 since 2009) and Fos sil Hill (site 125a of ASPA No. 125) have been i ntentionally visited with vehicles for this purpose (Sec. 3.3.3 & 3.4.3). This behaviour can be judged as problematic, particularly with regard to the scientific significance of the rich fossil areas on t he Fildes Peninsula.

Fishing continues to be a favourite leisure activity during the summer months (Peter et al., 2008, Chapter 4.6.2.1.) and members of at least two stations engage in this pastime.

However, it was never practised to the extent that it was in the 2008/09 season, either before or since. In that season almost every day with favourable weather conditions was used by members of a s tation for fishing trips in Maxwell Bay and t he Fildes Strait. The only fish caught were of the Antarctic Cod (Nototheniidae) family, which are very easy to catch along shallow, rocky stretches of the coast. There were reports of daily catches of up to 100 kg of fish. The preferred sites were mainly the rocky areas on t he east coast of the Fildes Peninsula and the offshore Diomedea and Geologist Islands. The coastal area of the Fildes Strait, including Two Summit and Dart islands, as well as the north of Nelson Island, was likewise repeatedly visited. These relatively frequent disturbances of distant breeding areas of southern giant petrels during the breeding season could to some extent be responsible for the partly seriously declining number of breeding pairs and for the lack of breeding success at the breeding sites mentioned (Sec. 3.1.1). The fish caught were generally gutted in the shore areas of the stations and the resulting fish cuttings were immediately fed to competing skuas and gulls. After this, skuas injured as a result of fighting for food were observed on a number of occasions in the vicinity of the stations (pers. comm. M. Kopp). Moreover, this

Fig. 68: Snowkiting on the Collins Glacier; in the foreground the Fildes Peninsula can be seen (front right:

Lago Uruguay); in the centre is Ardley Island and in the background Nelson Island (photo: C. Braun, 13.12.2008).

92

feeding threatened an ongoing research project, which involved investigating the food of skuas by means of isotope analyses. There were thus obvious consequences related to the clearly expressed plea not to feed the birds with fish waste.

Furthermore, there are private photographs known on which station members can be seen immediately in front of southern giant petrel nests or touching seals and penguins, as well as catching skuas. Such pictures clearly demonstrate the frequent lack of awareness of station members (including scientists) with regard to disturbing animals or to damaging the local vegetation.

Management plans for both ASPA areas were frequently either not known by station members, were not available in some stations, or clearly met with little interest. The subjective impression that the staff of a number of stations on the Fildes Peninsula were not sufficiently well-informed was frequently confirmed by inquiries. Even scientists and seasoned overwinterers showed their ignorance with regard to the locally recommended behavioural guidelines. Many have not received appropriate training or education.