Bleak, sulphurous, haunted. Deception Island is an active volcano with an ocean-filled caldera. Although considered part of Antarctica, Deception Island shares little with the continent. Where the continent has sheer, jagged, snow-covered cliffs plunging into the ocean, Deception Island is ringed with low, bare hills leading down to mud flats and gravel. Where the air on the continent is pristine, on Deception Island a sulfurous mist hugs the shore. And where the continent has no signs of human exploitation (other than the research bases), Deception Island was once a whaling center, whose storage tanks, administrative buildings, and processing facilities lie abandoned and collapsing along the shore. Between the dilapidated buildings and the sulfurous mist, it’s a perfect setting for a ghost story.
The island also serves as a rest stop for fur seals. The seals do not like humans; you can’t blame them, given that humans nearly eradicated the species by the mid-20th century. At any rate, our expedition guide gave a 2-minute lecture about how to avoid or defuse confrontations with the fur seals. Fortunately, there was no need to put his advice into action; the animals we encountered seemed intent on spending a relaxing morning lying in the mud.
Greenwich Island is much like the rest of the Antarctic Peninsula from a geological standpoint. It does, however, have some fauna we didn’t see elsewhere, including chinstrap penguins and elephant seals.
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