• RTW Redux ... 2023
    Lava plug ... Deception Island — South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.
    Lava plug ... Deception Island — South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.Chinstrap penguin colony ... Deception Island — South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.Passing Neptune's Bellows, we get a glimpse of the interior ... Deception Island — S Shetlands.Another chinstrap colony ... Deception Island — South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.Neptune's Window ... Deception Island — South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.The ash promotes growth of the mosses ... Deception Island — S Shetlands, Antarctica.Deception Island — South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.Deception Island — South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.Chinstrap colony @ Baily Head ... Deception Island — South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.Chinstrap colony @ Baily Head ... Deception Island — South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.

    S Shetlands: Deception Island

    February 19, 2023 in Antarctica ⋅ 🌬 37 °F

    We’re still in Antarctica … but we have moved away from the Antarctic Peninsula to the South Shetland Islands.

    Although the itinerary didn’t list it, our morning started at Deception Island … what remains of a strato volcano. It was so named by Palmer, an American sealer, because of its outwardly deceptive appearance. What looks like an island has an entrance — albeit a narrow one — that allows access into what is actually the collapsed caldera of the still-active volcano.

    Deception Island is a popular expedition stop within Bransfield Strait. Twice now we’ve gone through Neptune’s Bellows — the break in the caldera wall — to the black sand beaches in the interior. Anchoring off Whaler’s Bay, we’ve hiked up the scree to Neptune’s Window — which looks like a giant took a bite out of the caldera wall — and looked out.

    (For anyone interested in seeing what is inside the caldera, this link will take you to the post I wrote when we landed at Deception Island in 2015 … https://2totravel.blogspot.com/2015/06/deceptio….)

    Today, we stayed outside the caldera. Raven Rock, submerged in the middle of Neptune’s Bellows, made it impossible for Insignia to enter … we are just too big. Instead, we sailed around the outer edge … seeing Deception Island from a different perspective. We cruised past the Bellows and caught glimpses of the interior from Neptune’s window. We passed the 100,000-pair strong breeding colony of Chinnies (chinstrap penguins) reaching high into the hills at Baily Head, which has been identified as an Important Bird Area. There were some Antarctic fur seals in the water … just tiny dots.

    Deception Island was wreathed in low-lying clouds when we first arrived, so I didn’t even attempt to go out to the public decks. I didn’t really need to. Insignia passed the island on the port side. I just threw on a few layers over my fleece PJ pants and watched everything slide by from our veranda. As we moved along the coast, the low-lying clouds started to move up and we ended up getting some good views.    Read more