Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage, Deception Island, Antarctica...

Welcome to Antarctica and Deception Island our first port of call... Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent in terms of total area. Antarctica is a very unique continent in that it does not have a native human population. Just off the northwest Antarctic Peninsula, in the South Shetland Islands lies Deception Island, once a bustling seal and whaling station. One of the safest harbors in Antarctic, it's been a place of science and military interests from Britain, Chile, and Argentina, but was deserted when volcanic eruptions destroyed British Base B in 1969. Today, Deception Island is still an active volcano considered to pose "significant volcanic risk," and is constantly monitored for seismic activity. There is a 12km wide natural inner caldera harbor known as Port Foster. The is harbor is protected by high cliffs and a narrow entrance known as Neptune's Bellows. The island is home to a large chinstrap penguin breeding colony on Bailey Head. The captain brought the ship close to the Neptune’s Bellows entrance to the caldera however, the narrow entrance will not allow a ship of our size to enter the harbor. We have had our first penguin sightings…hundreds of birds resting on icebergs. Did I tell you how cold it was? 28 degrees and the winds were howling…Not a good time to forget your balaclava. The weather forecast is for snow overnight so we will see what things will be like in the morning. This is Day 0 of our Antarctica Adventure and it has been great so far. Thank you, Captain Smit for providing us such a memorable experience…