At Swoop, we are firm believers in the power of travelling for good. Since the company was founded in 2010, we have tried to ensure our actions as a company are fully aligned with that belief. Swoop has always been an advocate for our destination at the ends of the Earth and it’s critical that we actively help protect these unique environments.
With this in mind, I am very proud as Swoop’s Sustainability Manager to announce the creation of the Swoop Conservation Fund to prioritise both people and the planet.
This year Swoop completed the rigorous process of becoming B Corp certified. B Corps are businesses that put a strong commitment to social and environmental responsibility on an equal footing with its financial success. To achieve this, Swoop was audited on five sustainability pillars: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers (you can read more about Swoop’s B Corp journey on our website).
As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability, the Swoop Conservation Fund aims to provide support to organisations creating significant positive impact in the unique regions that we travel to. We’ve worked hard to select meaningful organisations that not only contribute to conservation but also education, biodiversity and the long term sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere. The organisations we’ve selected complement each other to ensure that our conservation fund creates the biggest impact and the most additional benefits possible.
The Swoop Conservation Fund will initially support two organisations in the Antarctic region and also two in Patagonia to support conservation in the destinations we visit as Swoop Patagonia.
The organisations we are proud for Swoop Antarctica to be supporting are the South Georgia Heritage Trust and the Polar Citizen Science Collective. In Patagonia, we are supporting Rewilding Chile and Legado Chile Foundation.
The South Georgia Heritage Trust
The sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia is one of the most incredible wildlife watching destinations we know. The richness of its wildlife – both in diversity and overwhelming scale of numbers – has earned it the nickname of ‘the Serengeti of the South’. The island’s history as the birthplace of the Antarctic whaling industry in the early 20th century makes this natural wealth even more incredible.
The South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT) works to preserve the island’s natural and historical heritage for future generations and redress past damage to its environment. By managing practical conservation programmes to protect native species, it seeks to raise awareness of South Georgia’s unique ecosystem through scientific research and public engagement. By protecting its wildlife now and in the future, it is helping take an ecosystem that has suffered the worst of human exploitation into one that showcases best conservation practices.
The results of the conservation efforts of SGHT are easily seen by today’s visitors. In 2018, SGHT successfully completed an ambitious five year programme to eradicate rats and mice from the island that had been introduced to the island during its whaling days. These rodents had decimated local bird populations. Thanks to the SGHT, the island is now rodent free, allowing several endangered species to flourish again.
Swoop & South Georgia
Every year Swoop sends several hundred polar cruise ship passengers to South Georgia as part of their Antarctic itineraries. The vast king penguin colonies and beaches packed with almost uncountable numbers of fur seals and elephant seals, set against the island’s jagged mountain backdrop are a highlight of many people’s trips.
Swoop will be supporting SGHT’s new Commensalis project that aims to conserve whale populations in South Georgia’s waters as well as educate tourists on the impacts of whaling on the region’s wildlife. Although whaling ended in the mid-1980s, the devastation wrought on whale numbers is still felt in polar waters. While some species like humpback whales have been able to recover around South Georgia, while others like blue whales and southern right whales remain critically endangered.
Whales are a critical part of the biodiversity in the region and contribute a huge amount of long term carbon sequestration through their support of phytoplankton populations. Beyond the positive impacts on biodiversity, this project can help to educate the public and create a lasting connection for visitors to this remarkable destination.
The Polar Citizen Science Collective
Citizen science engages Antarctic travellers during a polar cruise by allowing them to get hands-on with genuine scientific activities, such as wildlife monitoring, environmental data collection and collaborating with ongoing research projects in Antarctica.
The Polar Citizen Science Collective (PCSC) was founded to help connect the polar science community with the expedition cruise industry through engaging travellers in data collection for critically important research. Antarctica is a hard destination to reach (something we know first hand through many crossings of the Drake Passage!), so it’s essential that every voyage offers more than the chance to create once in a lifetime memories. Throughout the season, cruise ships regularly visit areas that are difficult for scientists to access, so citizen science offers a fantastic opportunity to use those ships for scientific research. The PCSC assesses research projects and works with scientists and expedition guides to develop programs that can easily be carried out by tourists in the field while still providing the rigour needed for academic study.
Swoop & Citizen Science
At Swoop, we are big advocates for polar citizen science. In the course of regular trips to Antarctica, members of the Swoop team have taken part in projects from collecting phytoplankton samples to seabird surveys and even collecting cloud data for NASA. We know that citizen science not only enhances the expedition experience but also contributes valuable data to scientific research and fosters a sense of environmental stewardship and awareness among travellers.
Data from citizen science can be crucial for understanding the impact of climate change and informing conservation efforts. We know the positive impact that citizen science has already had in the region: data collected by cruise passengers for the HappyWhale directly led to new regulations over ship cruising speeds in the Antarctic Peninsula to reduce the chance of accidental ship strikes.
Swoop is also proud to use its conservation fund to contribute directly to support the work of HappyWhale. When one of our Swoopers photographed a humpback whale in Antarctica that was new to the HappyWhale database, we made an extra donation to be able to name the whale and to help them further grow their database of whales in Antarctica and beyond, and provide an important tool for whale biologists and conservationists alike.
By supporting the Polar Citizen Science Collective and HappyWhale, we hope to encourage more uptake of citizen science projects across the polar fleet and more connections between the scientific research and travel communities.
By supporting organisation like these, we can contribute to science, help with the long-term preservation of these unique ecosystems and allow better informed decision making for Antarctic tourism.
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