Deception Island
We awoke this morning in the South Shetland Islands, our destination, a recently active volcano, Deception Island. Its name conjures up dramatic images of steep craggy cliffs, hidden by swirling fog and snow – which today was not far off the mark. In actuality the name comes from the sealers and whalers who passed by the island for years without seeing the small opening in the wall of original caldera (now called Port Foster), called Neptune’s Bellows. Although it is about half a mile wide - certainly wide enough for most vessels to pass through - there is a submerged rock in the middle of the channel just below the surface, cutting the transit area in half. However, with the skilled maneuvering of our Captain, we passed easily through the Bellows, arriving at our morning destination of Whaler’s Bay.
Originally a Norwegian Whaling Station, more recently Whaler’s Bay was home to an Operation Tabarin base. A precursor to BAS (British Antarctic Survey), Operation Tabarin was a secret British wartime activity that secured allied control of the southernmost regions. But in the late 1960’s there were several fierce volcanic eruptions, which ultimately led to the evacuation of the base. Now relics of both the whaling operations and BAS litter the bay, creating an eerie graveyard of buildings and equipment from the past, an occasional penguin emerging from the wreckage.
Deception Island still displays geothermal activity, and as the tide lowers, steam begins to rise from the beaches as heated water is pushed through the sand. It is hot enough to burn the bottom of your feet if you step directly onto it, and when it flows down to the shoreline, it can create some pleasant mixing with the colder waters of the bay, enough so that some of us decided to go for a “swim.” While some chose to stay close to shore and wallow in the sand and first few inches of water, others ran headstrong out into the bay, and fully submerged ourselves in the much colder (31¢ªF) water off shore.
This afternoon we continued our visit of Deception by exiting the Bellows and heading for a place called Baily Head – a spectacular black and white world, where thousands of penguins come and go on the black sand beach, surrounded by ash infused ice cliffs. Notoriously the toughest landing on the Antarctic Peninsula, the high-energy beach of Baily lived up to its reputation today. However, it was no match for our enthusiasm, and we swung out of the Zodiacs as they hit the beach like Navy Seals, greeted by the cacophony of chinstrap penguins.
Happily exhausted by another diverse and spectacular day, we made for our cabins and the lounge, only to be called out for one last show – three tail lobbing, pectoral fin waving, spy-hopping, breaching Humpback Whales.
We awoke this morning in the South Shetland Islands, our destination, a recently active volcano, Deception Island. Its name conjures up dramatic images of steep craggy cliffs, hidden by swirling fog and snow – which today was not far off the mark. In actuality the name comes from the sealers and whalers who passed by the island for years without seeing the small opening in the wall of original caldera (now called Port Foster), called Neptune’s Bellows. Although it is about half a mile wide - certainly wide enough for most vessels to pass through - there is a submerged rock in the middle of the channel just below the surface, cutting the transit area in half. However, with the skilled maneuvering of our Captain, we passed easily through the Bellows, arriving at our morning destination of Whaler’s Bay.
Originally a Norwegian Whaling Station, more recently Whaler’s Bay was home to an Operation Tabarin base. A precursor to BAS (British Antarctic Survey), Operation Tabarin was a secret British wartime activity that secured allied control of the southernmost regions. But in the late 1960’s there were several fierce volcanic eruptions, which ultimately led to the evacuation of the base. Now relics of both the whaling operations and BAS litter the bay, creating an eerie graveyard of buildings and equipment from the past, an occasional penguin emerging from the wreckage.
Deception Island still displays geothermal activity, and as the tide lowers, steam begins to rise from the beaches as heated water is pushed through the sand. It is hot enough to burn the bottom of your feet if you step directly onto it, and when it flows down to the shoreline, it can create some pleasant mixing with the colder waters of the bay, enough so that some of us decided to go for a “swim.” While some chose to stay close to shore and wallow in the sand and first few inches of water, others ran headstrong out into the bay, and fully submerged ourselves in the much colder (31¢ªF) water off shore.
This afternoon we continued our visit of Deception by exiting the Bellows and heading for a place called Baily Head – a spectacular black and white world, where thousands of penguins come and go on the black sand beach, surrounded by ash infused ice cliffs. Notoriously the toughest landing on the Antarctic Peninsula, the high-energy beach of Baily lived up to its reputation today. However, it was no match for our enthusiasm, and we swung out of the Zodiacs as they hit the beach like Navy Seals, greeted by the cacophony of chinstrap penguins.
Happily exhausted by another diverse and spectacular day, we made for our cabins and the lounge, only to be called out for one last show – three tail lobbing, pectoral fin waving, spy-hopping, breaching Humpback Whales.
