Deception Island is part of the line of islands called the South Shetland Islands, lying northwest of the Antarctic Peninsula and is an active volcano. The island is a “submerged caldera,” a circle of craggy hills around an almost-enclosed seawater lagoon, known as Port Foster.
Deception Island is now managed as part of the Antarctic treaty, making it a protected area, but its history also records some of the human over-use of the Antarctic. Human activity there began in about 1820, with sealing. But in the early 1900s, when seals were nearly hunted to extinction, Antarctic seafarers turned to whaling.
The ruins of this station are the most complete remains of whaling history in the Antarctic, and governments have agreed to let the remains stand, undisturbed, to be seen and understood as part of maritime history—and as a witness to the power of volcanic activity.
Seals, seabirds, and penguins live on Deception Island and in its enclosed central lagoon. On the outside perimeter of the island’s circle, exposed to the sea, is the world’s largest colony of chinstrap penguins - nearly 400,000 birds live there, but it is strictly off limits to visitors.
Fun fact, technically an active volcano, Deception Island hasn’t erupted in nearly half a century. The odds of it erupting soon are extremely low, but its active status means that the black-sand beaches hold hot steam under the surface. A small handful of people, myself included, brave dipping into the icy waters of the lagoon, before running over to a small dug out “hot tub” of water on the beach, warmed by the geothermal heat.
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