Deception Island and Snow Island - The final landings
Day 8 : Dec 17, 2019
Our visit to the Deception Island, a unique landscape formed by the collapsed caldera of an active volcano marks Day 8 of our voyage.
We woke up to cloudy day and found the ship sailing past Neptune Bellows into the Deception Island Caldera. Standing in the balcony, we were greeted by an amazing sight of hundreds of Penguin bobbing in & out of the sea going out for the food hunt.
Deception Island
Deception Island (62°58′37″S, 60°39′00″W), a circular horse-shoe shaped island, is a part of South Shetland Islands archipelago. It is a caldera of an active volcano that last erupted in 1969. The collapsed caldera has created a safe harbour and this made it a popular whaling station and research base in early 1900s, thereby earning the name Whalers Bay. A large number of ship based whale oil extraction units used to anchor in the harbour. A shore-based whale oil extraction factory was established in 1912 by a Norwegian firm, the remains of which, oils tanks and boilers, can still be seen on the island. The island also featured one of the first airfields in Antarctica. The remains of the runway and a hangar are still visible. The collapse of the whale oil economy in early 1930s led to the cessation of whale oil extractions both ship based and shore based, and the whaling factory was abandoned. However, scientific research activities continued and the island with its airfield served as an important base for research expeditions. In 1941, British Navy shelled the abandoned facilities to prevent them from being used by German Navy during World War II. Volcanic eruptions of 1967 and 1969, accompanied by mud-flows, destroyed scientific research stations.
After a quick morning tea and cookies in the suite, we kitted up and went down to Deck 3 for boarding the zodiac. Today our group (Group 6) was slotted first at 7:00 am for the landing.
After a wet landing at the beach where water was warmer due to sub-terrain volcanic activity, we started our long hike towards Kendal Terrace. As we walked on the beach along the shore, we were amazed to see thousands of dead Krill washed ashore. There were couple of Chinstrap Penguins on the beach curiously eyeing the explorers. There was also a large Skua fearlessly trotting along with us looking for food. The beach had some whale bones, remnant of old whaling activities. Nearing Kendal Terrace, we saw a Leopard Seal in deep slumber on the shore and a Chinstrap Penguin keeping watchful eye, but apparently looking lost. After taking a few photos we turned inland towards the Kendal Terrace. It was an extremely steep hike, and Bidisha decided to rest at halfway point, while I bravely hiked up. At the top, I got some beautiful photos of the outward sea and also of the caldera. As I started my journey back, I found that hike down was made doubly difficult by loose gravel that formed the ground. A careful climb down entailed using rocks on the way to act as the brakes to prevent slipping.
We walked back towards the zodiac landing site and crossed over the other side to see the remnants of the whaling station. On the way, we encountered 1 Gentoo and 2 Chinstrap Penguins marching together on the beach heading towards the sea. We reached the whaling factory and took a good look at the ruins. Mr. Dmitri Kiselev, the historian in the Expedition team, took us through the history of the area. Our time was running out. We walked back to the landing site to board the zodiac and came back to the ship.
Back on the ship, we went to The Restaurant on Deck 4, and had a leisurely 4-course breakfast consisting of Fresh Fruits, Yogurt with Granola, French Toast and Eggs Benedict. We then settled down in the Panorama Lounge on Deck 8, with a cup of hot tea while enjoying the surrounding view. After a while, we returned back to the suite and lounged in the balcony as our ship sailed out of the Deception Island caldera. We were now sailing towards the last stop in the Antarctica – Snow Island. There was plenty of time and we decided to have a quick nap. We woke up at 2:00 pm and went La Terrazza on Deck 7 for a quick lunch.
Snow Island
Meanwhile, our ship was nearing Snow Island in South Shetlands. Snow Island (62°47′00″S, 61°23′00″W) is a 16 km by 8 km island which is mostly covered with snow. Its shores provide refuge to a large number of Elephant Seals and Gentoo Penguins. The inner parts of the island is a home to the northernmost breeding colony of Emperor Penguins.
At 3:00 pm, we took the zodiac ride to Snow Island. As the zodiac made way towards the landing site, we could feel the undercurrents generated by the swell coming in from the Drake Passage. The zodiac was swaying gently and we could make out the wave patterns generated by the undercurrents as we neared the shore.
It was the first time Silversea Cruises was making a landing on this island of South Shetland Islands archipelago, and being on the first zodiac, it made us – the explorers, feel like Pioneers! At the landing site, as we got off the zodiac into the shallow waters, we were greeted by the sight of a large number of Elephant seals lazing on the beach. This was the first time we were seeing Elephant Seals!
The shore area of the Snow Island has sedimentary rocks and a native grass grows here. We walked carefully, not to trample upon the native grass. We stopped to look at a few Gentoo Penguins walking carefully around the seals. As we hiked around the island, we could see more Elephant Seals lazing all around on the beaches. Some of them got curious and popped up their heads to observe the explorers who had apparently intruded into their domain. Soon we witnessed a fight between 2 massive Elephant Seals who fought over their right for a comfortable place on the shore for their rest. After a while, both the Seals apparently got tired of fighting and moved around to accommodate each other. We also saw skeletal remains of couple of baby seals on the shore. The Expedition Team members explained that sometimes the babies are left behind starving when their mothers venture into the sea to get food and in turn become food for other predators.
At the allotted time, we hiked back to the landing site and took the zodiac back to the ship. Our expedition was coming to an end and there was a strange heaviness in our hearts. It seems we hadn’t got enough of this beautiful continent.
Back on the ship, we went up to the Panorama Lounge on Deck 8 for relaxing evening over cups of hot tea. At 8:00 pm, we had a light dinner at La Terrazza on Deck 7. After the dinner we retired back to our suite, popped in an Avomine tablet and went to sleep. Antihistamine Avomine tablet was to counter motion sickness and nausea sensation. Rough seas had been predicted in the Drake Passage the next day and we wanted to be on the safe side.