Page 34: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2019)

CRUISE SHIPPING • LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS

Sven Lindblad

Explorer, Photographer, Expedition Cruise Shipping Trail Blazer

Intrepid explorer and wildlife pho- tographer Sven Lindblad blazed the trail for environmentally sensitive travelers to Antarctica on Lindblad

Expedition’s ? eet of cruise ships with National Geographic.

By Lisa Overing

You can tell a lot about a man by whom his heroes are, whether famous athletes, virtuoso musicians, brave war- riors or movie stars. As we age, we choose our heroes by their moral compass, seeking wisdom, inspiration and truth about our world during our dwindling time on this planet.

As adventurers who led men in adverse conditions, ex- plorers Capt. James Cook (1728 - 1779) and Sir Ernest

Henry Shackleton (1874 - 1922) are Sven Lindblad’s heroes. Risking their lives in search of scienti? c and geographic knowledge, each explorer made epic trips to

Antarctica, a destination now within the grasp of the av- erage traveler on an expedition cruise ship led by Sven

Lindblad and National Geographic.

While Lindblad’s not risking his life like explorers of yore, he does feels the

Lindblad Expeditions’ al- weight of the world upon his shoulders. liance with National Geo-

As a new niche bringing scores of trav- graphic allows Lindblad to elers to Antarctica and the most fragile, take people to the Arctic on remote areas of the globe, the dawn of cruise ships ? lled with teaching expedition cruise ships created a seismic moments that transform pas- shift in quest of the earth’s most outer sengers into stewards of our planet, exchanging ideas amid limits. “I never thought in my lifetime natural beauty and wonder.

I would see too many people in Antarc- tica,” said Sven Lindblad. “It is at risk of becoming commoditized, which is psy- chologically unfortunate. It has not happened yet, but I see a distinct possibility.”

Wrestling with the concept of leaving no footprints,

Lindblad’s responsibility is to change people’s behavior, educating everyone that the environment is an essential partner, not some alien creation that is merely tolerated.

“How do you get people to think differently?” said

Lindblad. “To protect our asset? We must commit to 34 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MARCH 2019

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