Michele Travels

Deception Island is located in the Bransfield Strait, close to the South Shetland Islands. It is a volcanic island that was home to a bustling seal hunting industry (1830 – late 1800’s). In the early 1900’s the industry shifted to whale hunting and processing.

In the late 1960’s giant eruptions shook the island and destroyed the infrastructure. A final eruption in 1972 sealed the island’s fate and it was abandoned. There is still volcanic activity. We found the caldera water is still warm to the touch, heated by that activity.

The wind was really howling during our trek along the shore. It was a little spooky walking around – there is a graveyard with crosses buried in volcanic rock. There were also huge oil tanks, once filled with whale oil, being slowly claimed by nature.

This was our last stop before leaving Antarctica via the Drake Passage. Our next stop was Ushuaia, Argentina.