Jon Seddon's Photos - Antarctica - Deception Island and the Trip North

On the way home from Rothera I spent a month on the RRS Ernest Shackleton helping to clean-up and remove abandoned British bases along the Antarctic Peninsula.

We spent two days at Deception Island as part of this. Deception Island is an old volcano that is still active in certain places. Part of the outer wall has broken and the inner caldera is now flooded and ships can sail into it. In Whalers Bay there is an old Norwegian whaling station. The British used this as part of their base between 1944 and 1969, when a major volcanic eruption caused the site to be abandoned. Many of the buildings were damaged then when several feet of volcanic mud flowed through the base.The scenery is stunning with mountains all around you, over a centuries worth of buildings part buried and with steam rising out of the sea reminding you of the continuing volcanic activity. The wildlife is great too with Gentoo penguins and Fur seals sharing the beach and porpoising through the sea as they return from feeding each day.

There are more details about the old British bases on BAS' website.

View Deception Island and the Trip North on a map.

The whaling station and Neptune's Window on Deception Island where some people claim that Nathaniel Palmer was the first person to the see the Antarctic Peninsula from. A tractor from the 60's buried in volcanic mud after Deception Island's 1969 eruption with the RRS Shackleton in the background. Me, Jane Nash, Stu McMillan and Rob Shortman taking a dip in a volcanic pool on Deception Island. The sea temperature was +1°C but the water temperature in the pool we dug was around +30°C - very pleasant! The back of Biscoe House showing the volcanic mud that flowed through the building during the 1969 eruption on Deception Island. This was taken before we started the clean-up of the site! The building was built by Norwegian whalers in the early 1900's and then used by the British during their stay there. A Gentoo penguin with our ship and cargo tender in the background in the caldera on Deception Island. The Shackleton viewed through a dry dock built by the Norwegian whalers on Deception Island. All that remains of one of the buildings on Deception Island is the Aga. My mother would be proud - although it could do with a clean. Ellen MacArthur's trimaran B & Q in Stanley Harbour, Falkland Islands. The Ernest Shackleton emerging from the Lemaire Channel on the Antarctic Peninsula.

© Copyright Jon Seddon (jseddon@zepler.net) 2004 - 2013