2geonomads

Wednesday 4th March 2015

Hannah Point; Whaler’s Bay (Deception Island)

Wake to a much clearer, milder day after travelling through the night to arrive at Livingstone Island and more specifically Hannah Point. After breakfast we disembark to land on the beach and set off on a 1.5 kms walk along the pebbly beach. Our welcoming party includes 3 types of penguin, chinstrap, gentoo and a couple of macaroni penguins with their distinct golden markings on their head.

Also to be seen were Giant Southern Petrols with their huge wingspan and occasional appetite for baby penguins. Brown skuas were seen as we progressed along the coast together with the huge elephant seals and some fur seals.

The elephant seals will never win a beauty parade with the males weighing up to 4000 kgs and the females 800 kgs. Life expectancy can be up to 20-25 years but certain males who service a veritable harem live much shorter if more energetic lives.

Judd’s kayakers have had the bonus of seeing a leopard seal capture 1 unlucky penguin in a speedy and efficient manner .

Return to the ship shortly after 11 am and set off on the 20 kms trip south to Deception Island with some magnificent coastal mountains off to the port side.

Christian reminds us that whales could well be sighted in this area so we get back out onto the deck to check this out as we head south before lunch. Orcas sighted shortly afterwards and Officer Roman expertly manoeuvred the ship for all to gain a good view of these fantastic creatures.

With the wind picking up we go down for lunch which for me was a somewhat truncated affair as I start to feel a bit the worse for wear and retire to our cabin to recover. How the hell did I come from the same country as Lord Nelson and Francis Drake!

As we approach Deception Island  in windy weather we get our first view of Neptune’s Window, a break in the wall of the volcanic crater called Whalers Bay in Port Foster on Deception Island. We enter the bay through Neptune’s Bellow which is  a fairly apt description for this location.

We head off at once with Diego to take the fairly demanding trek up to the Window, viewing along the way penguins and some occasionally fairly aggressive fur seals.

After having explored the remains of the whaling station and the British Antarctic Survey base we return to the beach along which we had earlier walked with the weather taking a definite turn for the worse.

By the time we make our way back to the ship visibility is almost nil and a real snowstorm is under way. After the previous fine weather we now know why this is called Deception Island.

Christian advises us that Deception Island is not a good long term anchor position so we set sail away from the area once more into open sea and some wilder conditions.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret