Our ship got to the opening into Deception Island about 5:00 am on February 6, 2026.  We were awakened by the engines slowing, and everything being still.

There is a very small 500 meter gap in the caldera that was hard to see and easy to miss, thus the name.

Deception Island holds the safest harbor in Antarctica, if you ignore that it is also an active caldera. The last substantial eruption was in 1969 but seismic activity is ongoing.

As promised, we began entering the caldera at 6:45 a.m.  We watched from our cabin and balcony.   

There was a penguin colony way up on the ridge. It seemed quite far from the water!

We saw equipment, presumably to measure seismic activity. Both Spain and Argentina operate seismic studies on the island.

Our time came to go ashore.

We walked up and saw a small caldera from the eruption in 1969.

Randy decided to walk further up the hill and get better views.

I wandered my way back down the mountain. 

I walked along the beach and saw two seals.

A Weddel seal was quite close to the water and was totally unconcerned with people (and birds) around.  He opened his eyes a few times.

The fur seal was far enough away that he mostly ignored us. 

Two chinstrap penguins came along and entertained us for a time. 

Actually, they did nothing specific, we were just entertained by their presence.

The Deception Island settlement was originally a Norwegian whaling station, originating in 1912.

In its time, this was the only land based whaling station offering support to vessels. Up to 500 people worked here during the active summer months.

Whalers began just rendering the blubber but, over decades, eventually used every single part of the whale. This included the meat and getting oil from the bones.

Norway was neutral during World War I and made a lot of money selling whale oil as a source of fuel.  Norway closed the site in 1931. 

The big petrol tanks held whale oil and other things over the years. 

The British established a base in 1944 and operated it primarily as a meteorological unit. In 1967 an eruption caused them to leave.  They came back briefly but abandoned Deception Island permanently in 1969.

For some time, the site had been primarily used by scientists for studying seismic activity and the volcano.  Because of their research they were able to leave when the eruption became imminent and no one was harmed. The site wasn’t destroyed by lava, it was covered in 15 feet of mud.

These crosses are a Norwegian memorial to the 50-60 whalers, and one research scientist, who died over the sites early years.  Their graves were buried during the volcanic eruption so the memorial was erected.

The buildings remaining are a collection of those from Norway whaling, the British Navy, and British meteorologic and seismic studies.

In 1990-1992, the British removed remaining hazardous materials.

In 1995 the whaling station was designated a historical site, protected by the Antarctic Treaty.

These picture show Deception Island’s stacking of ice and black soot and ash over thousands of years.

Steam rises along the shoreline due to geothermal activity.

The water was 80° centigrade in this spot.

The ground was warm enough to grow a moss covering.

Randy always enjoyed listening to our expedition team members!

Another team member showed us krill.

When we returned to the ship and cabin, we had a snack that had become a habit.  

Our cabin stewards left potato chips for us and I enjoyed it so much that it became a habit.  I always prefer salty to sweet. They brought chocolate too!

As we headed down for our expedition briefing, we passed another common happening.  There was always self serve hot wine, hot chocolate and coffee available with all the possible additives.  Of course, if you didn’t want to serve yourself, the bartender was happy to make you whatever you wanted.  On this cruise, all drinks were included.

Deception Island was our last shore excursion before we started the trip back across the Drake Passage.

It was time to look at our potential conditions for our two day crossing.

We were given our timed group assignments for the next day. Sleep in!

On this cruise, the excursions and expedition lectures were the primary entertainment.   

The music duo and cruise director (right) also provided a short schedule of entertainment and activities but we hadn’t attended any until this last night. It was all so pleasant and a perfect end to our time in Antarctica.

Next Up: The Drake Passage Round 2

Postscript: No Kings Protests, objecting to Trump administration policies, took place on six continents around the world on March 28, 2026.

Only it was really all seven continents! These four participated from Deception Island, Antarctica.