He Grew Up in Antarctica — And Now He's Leaving | National Geographic

[Music] Well, definitely. I mean, it's all, he's been part of what I've known, what I've done, so I guess so. You usually attach to what you know, where you come from.

I was born in South Georgia, sub-Antarctic island, but my family's been sailing here for over 40 years now. I suppose home was sort of more around this area for me. My mother had a background in biology, and although we were just cruising, she had an interest and started making notes. She made a lot of the first records of bird colonies in all these areas.

So, why should people who don't live here or don't know and care about this place? The Antarctic is closely linked to everything else on the planet. The landscape is shriveling; it's drying up. You can see a lot of the ice recede and the snow cover receding.

The Antarctic Treaty protects all things on land and prohibits extraction of resources, mainly mineral resources they were thinking about. However, it doesn't cover the sea, so commercial fishing is perfectly allowed in all the waters around Antarctica.

So, we have a situation where you're not supposed to do anything to impact the wildlife here on land, but it's okay to go fishing for what they literally just offer off the beach. Almost. Well, I think it's a slight oversight of the Antarctic Treaty, if you ask me.

Generally, people won't be able to change their habits unless there's a direct effect on their day-to-day life experience in places they take for granted. Then, and now, you realize that actually, it's not ever going to be possible again. Change is inevitable, but it's rather traumatic.

[Music] [Music]