 |
| An intimate moment in a desolate place. |
 |
| The mist gave the island an otherworldly feel. |
 |
| Fur seals merge with the beach. |
 |
| The Ocean Endeavour inside the natural harbour. |
 |
| A line has formed from which to safely watch a large group of seals lollop around. |
 |
| One of the crew approaches. |
 |
| Liz walks towards the crew member. |
This was what I think of as the bonus part of the trip. The initial plan to cross the Antarctic Circle had been delayed by illness, then literally blocked by an enormous iceberg. It was as if God were sending us a message, and that message was to go north. To an active volcano. God loves a volcano, and luckily so do I.
When we were first planning this trip, our travel agent had presented us with a bewildering selection of routes to the peninsula. A popular one goes via the Falklands, South Georgia and the South Shetlands. They each have their appeal, with the former offering King Penguins. Deception Island was also a possibility, but ultimately we decided our money was best spent maximising our time in Antarctica itself. So, as disappointed as I was not to cross the circle, I had to consider it is after all just an arbitrary and imaginary line, whereas Deception Island is very real, and very cool.
I say very cool, it was actually quite warm thanks to being an active volcano. Its caldera forms a natural harbour, and on maps it looks a bit like the letter 'c'. Like many places discovered at the edges of the Antarctic region, it was discovered by sealers, in this case in 1820. Since then it has had a relatively busy history. The sealing industry was short-lived and the island was used mainly for the shelter of its natural harbour, accessed through the opening known as Neptune's Bellows. It would be popular once again with the whaling industry at the start of the 20th Century, but having learned nothing from the sealers, this too did not last. Things were then quiet until everyone started staking their claims in the Antarctic in the lead-up to the Antarctic Treaty. In 1953 the UK deployed Royal Marines to the island to destroy an Argentinian base, but the most significant event occurred in 1967 and 1969, when the volcano erupted, destroying Chilean and British bases. Following this the island was abandoned for a few years. It is now the location of Argentinian and Spanish research stations which are only manned during the summer. Its principal use now is tourism, which neatly brings me back to the start.
You may have noticed that the island looks somewhat misty. That's because it is. The volcano heats the water to a pleasant temperature but the air is still as typically cold as you'd expect. The penguins seemed untroubled by the warmer water and were often popping and hurrying along the beach. This did cause some unintended penguin interaction, with the queue for Zodiacs forming a human wall at the shoreline. Penguins would emerge from the water, waddle up to the queue then stare at us dumbfounded. The more enterprising ones returned to the water and swam past us. For the others, we relocated the queue further back to give them space to pass.
In addition to gentoo penguins the island was also populated by seals, mostly fur seals. These tended not to do much apart from lie around the place like blubbery scatter cushions. They also blended in with the landscape quite well. Perhaps too well, as at one point I wandered dangerously close to one before being alerted to its presence. I paid much more attention after that, although I suppose it could have made for a cracking obituary.
There is a striking feature where we landed called Neptune's Window. It's a natural cutaway in the ridge of the volcano's caldera which affords a view out across the sea. It's a shortish hike uphill to get there. The weather being quite nice, this was one of those occasions when I'd undone my jacket to cool down before I reached the view. It was well worth the effort provided you didn't get too close to the edge or look down. It was certainly a view worth taking in while my legs rested as well as they could without sitting down, for even here environmental contact was kept to a minimum.
There's plenty more to see on Deception Island and the ruins of abandoned habitations litter the beach. I'll go into more detail about them next time.
Comments
Post a Comment