Deception Island (62°59’S / 60°34’W) & Robert Point
I had to summon all that is left of me after at 5:30am after nearly a week of feeling the cold wind on my face, and slowly crawl towards the coffee urn. In the meantime the MV Ushuaia has just entered the caldera of Deception Island and drops anchor in Whaler’s Bay. A quick snack and we are in the Zodiacs and on our way to our history-riddled landing site.
Deception Island was a hub of activity during the whaling years with some of the oil tanks and boiler remains still visible on the beach. The American sealer Nathaniel Palmer purportedly stood in Neptune’s Window and caught first sight of the Antarctic Continent (the same honour is also claimed by the Russian Bellingshausen). On this day however he would have had to imagine the continent as there were low lying clouds hanging over the island. This combined with the black pebble beaches, geothermal steam along the shoreline and abandoned buildings give the island an eerie atmosphere.
A few curious skuas later and we are back on the boat and tucking into breakfast before psyching ourselves for our entrance to the Students on Ice Swim Team, where a swim in the Southern Ocean is all that is required to pass. Upon our arrival we are sadly informed of our misfortune that is the failure for the hot pool to heat! Elaborate plans for frolicking in the Southern Ocean are soon lost as we scamper as fast as we can into and out of the freezing waters with the wind nearing a gale. The pebbles scraping our frozen toes, we throw our clothes on in whatever order we find them and jump on the next Zodiac back to the ship.
A warm shower and cup of tea later, we are en route to Robert Island in search of Southern elephant seals.
These enormous beasties resemble giant slugs on the beach as they are scattered in between numerous nimble Antarctic fur seals. We are all in awe of these charming creatures as we watch them snort, sniff, snarl, sleep and scratch during their annual moult. Chilling winds are picking up and we head back to the vessel for our passage across the Drake Passage bound for Ushuaia.
It’s quickly clear to us that this is going to be a rougher crossing than the one we enjoyed on the way south. After dinner the Drake Shake begins to claim its victims one by one. With tomorrow expected to be far, far worse we head to bed and can only dread what lies ahead.
(James, SH student)
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