Deception Island & South Shetland Islands
As the National Geographic Explorer made her approach to fabled Deception Island during breakfast this morning, an announcement from the bridge about breaching humpback whales had us all dropping our forks, grabbing optical gear, and racing to the nearest open stretch of deck space. We were well rewarded. As soon as Captain Skog maneuvered the ship into the proximity of the two whales, they turned and came directly toward the bow, obviously checking us out. The ship was eased into reverse and a pursuit began. The whales stayed right under our bow while we were backing up at three knots! Once everyone had had a chance to enjoy the spectacle we moved on to our first landing of the day on the very exposed black sand beach of Baily Head.
Baily Head, a towering promontory on the SE corner of Deception Island, is home to the Antarctic Peninsula’s largest chinstrap penguin colony, some seventy thousand pairs. It is a difficult surf landing at the best of times but today with the aid of our exceptional shore crew we had no problem and almost everyone got ashore, dry shod. After several hours of being beguiled by the antics of the chinstraps we returned to the ship for lunch and to watch our passage through Neptune’s Bellows, the narrow entrance into Port Foster, the sheltered bay of this giant, collapsed, volcanic caldera. At the far end we went ashore in Telefon Bay to walk up to the edge of a crater that was formed during one of the most recent eruptions that destroyed the two scientific bases there, in the late 1960s.
Our final stop was at Pendulum Cove where at least 50 of our bravest took the opportunity to “swim” in the shallows where the water heated by subterranean volcanic activity mixes with the cold water of the bay. The hotel staff then warmed our insides with an offering of hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps.
While leaving Deception Island in the fading light of day, we could see the spouts of many more humpbacks as we made our way for more adventure in the Weddell Sea and beyond.
As the National Geographic Explorer made her approach to fabled Deception Island during breakfast this morning, an announcement from the bridge about breaching humpback whales had us all dropping our forks, grabbing optical gear, and racing to the nearest open stretch of deck space. We were well rewarded. As soon as Captain Skog maneuvered the ship into the proximity of the two whales, they turned and came directly toward the bow, obviously checking us out. The ship was eased into reverse and a pursuit began. The whales stayed right under our bow while we were backing up at three knots! Once everyone had had a chance to enjoy the spectacle we moved on to our first landing of the day on the very exposed black sand beach of Baily Head.
Baily Head, a towering promontory on the SE corner of Deception Island, is home to the Antarctic Peninsula’s largest chinstrap penguin colony, some seventy thousand pairs. It is a difficult surf landing at the best of times but today with the aid of our exceptional shore crew we had no problem and almost everyone got ashore, dry shod. After several hours of being beguiled by the antics of the chinstraps we returned to the ship for lunch and to watch our passage through Neptune’s Bellows, the narrow entrance into Port Foster, the sheltered bay of this giant, collapsed, volcanic caldera. At the far end we went ashore in Telefon Bay to walk up to the edge of a crater that was formed during one of the most recent eruptions that destroyed the two scientific bases there, in the late 1960s.
Our final stop was at Pendulum Cove where at least 50 of our bravest took the opportunity to “swim” in the shallows where the water heated by subterranean volcanic activity mixes with the cold water of the bay. The hotel staff then warmed our insides with an offering of hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps.
While leaving Deception Island in the fading light of day, we could see the spouts of many more humpbacks as we made our way for more adventure in the Weddell Sea and beyond.
