Deception Island
7:05am—Our wakeup call advised us that we were now approaching Deception Island and that the expedition staff would soon be scouting the landing at Baily Head, location of a huge chinstrap penguin colony. Considered one of the most difficult places to land Zodiacs in Antarctica, we soon learned that today we had been blessed with as calm a condition as our Expedition Leader, Matt, had ever seen. We set out right after breakfast and were delighted to be greeted at the shore by representatives of the islands 100,000 or so pairs of nesting penguins. While the scene was hugely black & white—snow, black sand beach, and chinstrap penguins against a backdrop of an ash and cinder covered glacier—the sensory experience felt more like Technicolor. Our walk up to the colony paralleled the bustling penguin highway, which was clearly defined by the tint of pink penguin droppings (colored by krill) in the snow. Megan, our Oceanites researcher, was pleased to see so many birds on nests, most with two eggs. It’s been said that Deception Island seems to make it’s own weather, and today’s wind and snowfall added to our experience as we headed back towards the beach. Photographers lined up from the water’s edge, hoping to capture incredible photos of the leaping, sliding, hopping, and sometimes nose-diving arrivals and departures of these photogenic penguins.
Back onboard the Endeavour, we made our way towards Port Foster, the enormous sheltered bay concealed within Deception Island. To enter the bay, Captain Lampe carefully navigated our passage through the narrow channel known as Neptune’s Bellows. We enjoyed our lunch while floating in the flooded caldera of one of Antarctica’s most recent volcanic islands, less than a million years old. Immediately after lunch we had another landing, this time at Telefon Bay, for a short hike to the rim of a small volcanic crater.
Not to be outdone by the many penguins we’d seen during our voyage, several guests decided to test the waters here at Pendulum Cove prior to our departure from Antarctica. While most tried the geothermally warmed “tub” dug at the beach, this pair (pictured above) was especially adventurous, wading out into much deeper and colder water. Welcome to the Antarctic Swim Club!
And so we began our sail Northward.
(Midday position approximately: S 62° 56’ / W 60° 40’)
7:05am—Our wakeup call advised us that we were now approaching Deception Island and that the expedition staff would soon be scouting the landing at Baily Head, location of a huge chinstrap penguin colony. Considered one of the most difficult places to land Zodiacs in Antarctica, we soon learned that today we had been blessed with as calm a condition as our Expedition Leader, Matt, had ever seen. We set out right after breakfast and were delighted to be greeted at the shore by representatives of the islands 100,000 or so pairs of nesting penguins. While the scene was hugely black & white—snow, black sand beach, and chinstrap penguins against a backdrop of an ash and cinder covered glacier—the sensory experience felt more like Technicolor. Our walk up to the colony paralleled the bustling penguin highway, which was clearly defined by the tint of pink penguin droppings (colored by krill) in the snow. Megan, our Oceanites researcher, was pleased to see so many birds on nests, most with two eggs. It’s been said that Deception Island seems to make it’s own weather, and today’s wind and snowfall added to our experience as we headed back towards the beach. Photographers lined up from the water’s edge, hoping to capture incredible photos of the leaping, sliding, hopping, and sometimes nose-diving arrivals and departures of these photogenic penguins.
Back onboard the Endeavour, we made our way towards Port Foster, the enormous sheltered bay concealed within Deception Island. To enter the bay, Captain Lampe carefully navigated our passage through the narrow channel known as Neptune’s Bellows. We enjoyed our lunch while floating in the flooded caldera of one of Antarctica’s most recent volcanic islands, less than a million years old. Immediately after lunch we had another landing, this time at Telefon Bay, for a short hike to the rim of a small volcanic crater.
Not to be outdone by the many penguins we’d seen during our voyage, several guests decided to test the waters here at Pendulum Cove prior to our departure from Antarctica. While most tried the geothermally warmed “tub” dug at the beach, this pair (pictured above) was especially adventurous, wading out into much deeper and colder water. Welcome to the Antarctic Swim Club!
And so we began our sail Northward.
(Midday position approximately: S 62° 56’ / W 60° 40’)
