24th March 2018 – A blown-away birthday in the South Shetland Islands
The moment we awoke this morning, it literally hit: Today is our last day of landings in Antarctica (and my 25th birthday). A major storm was brewing to the North-west, with wind strength exceeding 45 knots (or 85km/h), so Captain Evgenyi took the prudent decision of aiming to reach the safety of the Beagle Channel (South America) earlier than scheduled. This meant we had to leave Antarctica sooner than planned and we liked.
Our morning was spent at Deception Island – a place of stark contrasts, natural beauty and historical importance. Situated upon an active volcano, Deception Island was home to an important whaling station during the first part of the crazy 20th century Antarctic whaling. Hunted whales were towed here by the thousands and disassembled on place. Massive storage tanks and boilers, although rusty with time, were still visible on shore along with some whale bones. According to Sonja, the bottom of the bay is littered with the remains of many hundreds of whales. With this in mind, the island radiated a somber, humbling aura, and many of us made sure to fully take in this unusual atmosphere.
But despite all the past bloodshed, Deception Island now was a place teeming with life. While sailing through Neptune’s Bellows which provides passage into the caldera and Whaler’s Bay we counted hundreds of Antarctic fur seals on the beaches. Several Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins were mixed into the welcome crowd on shore. The seals were an energetic and lovely bunch and great fun to watch, either lazing around or play-fighting with each other.
Some seals were oblivious to our presence, others tried to engage us in their shenanigans. We had been briefed by the ever watchful expedition staff to decline the offer of a play fight and not get too close. When charged by feisty seals some people managed to stand their ground, while others hurried away. All survived – ;-).
Some of us hiked up to Neptune’s Window to enjoy the views across the Caldera and out to sea. We felt like explorers ourselves standing at the same spot as those men who first spotted the high mountain peaks of the Antarctic continent around 100km away, and thus were the first to see the once fabled Terra Australis Incognita.
After returning to the ship, we once again sailed through Neptune’s Bellows and then headed north towards Halfmoon Island, the planned site for our last landing. Our avid marine mammal observers spotted the first fin whale blows soon after and many more blows were recorded during the several hours of passage.
The wind blew strongly from north-west. As we neared Halfmoon island we could spot, with binoculars, the distant dots of moulting Chinstrap penguins on shore as well as more fur seals and a couple of elephant seals on the beach. Unfortunately Poseidon and his cronies messed up our plans to land and explore. We waited and watched from the ship but the wind only gained more strength. So with a heavy heart we had to say good bye to the penguins from afar.
I felt sad and a bit disappointed to miss out on the last landing. Our departure from Antarctica was sweetened a little by the lovely cake I received during dinner to celebrate my birthday. Having spent a few days in Antarctica, I’ve come to love the shades of blue of the icebergs (some with seals lazing upon them), the penguins porpoising past us energetically and the many whale sightings we’ve enjoyed. Antarctica’s beauty has drawn us in and I fear (and hear from the regular Antarctic travelers) that many of us might well have caught the Antarctic bug. It is truly a special place, and we all hope it remains this way.
Written by Mikhail Barabanov (with some editing from the blog fairy).
