How a Kayak Can Get You a Long Way, Even in the Desert

Can you talk about the tourism boom in Antarctica?

One way of looking at the increase in tourism is that it creates these new ambassadors who go home and talk to their friends about the need to protect and preserve Antarctica. The downside is, as we saw in November [when a cruise ship struck ice], you put more boats out there with inexperienced captains and you end up with bad accidents.

What's the safest way to visit the continent?

Small expedition cruise boats that take 100 passengers or so are fine, because those ships are filled with dedicated naturalists and really experienced crews. And with those ships, you can go ashore in a smart, environmentally savvy way. I think the risk is the big ships, some of whom are blatantly ignoring the voluntary rules of not taking more than 100 [ashore]. Big ships carrying 500 people are landing 100 at a time, but 500 people over a period of a few hours leaves a pretty sizable footprint. Then they have bigger cruise ships that are bringing 2,500 to 3,000 people almost for a Disneyland-like photo shoot. They sail down, take a few pictures of the icebergs, then sail back.

After you wrap this up [on Feb. 1], will you take a vacation?

I'm going to spend a couple weeks in the south of Chile, traveling around and visiting some penguin colonies. It's not work; it's just a holiday.

Any place you wish to see before you die?

I have never been to the Galapagos, so that is a place I should definitely see. Antarctica is the Galapagos of the polar world.