Day 13 12th March Deception Bay

We are currently anchored in the middle of Deception Bay - a part of the South Shetland Islands. Deception Island is an active volcano. Very early this morning we zodiaced into Whalers Bay, an old whaling station, now occupied by fur seals. The water was warm and you can still smell the sulphur - the visibility was low - we were unable to see the ship or Neptune’s Window, our walking destination - the winds were gusting at 39 knots. We spent 2 hours ashore and we felt as though we had a complete workout. Back on the Ocean Diamond we had a warming shower and breakfast, whilst the other half of the Quark passengers went ashore.
Antartica has a treaty, and amongst other things the treaty regulates the amount of tourism, restrictions on areas visited and numbers of people ashore.
Really bad weather was predicted for the Drake Passage, so it was decided by the Captain and Expedition leader, to leave a half day early and make a run across the Passage to try and beat the worst of the weather. Leaving moody Deception Bay was a little sad as this was our last excursion.Read more