Early this morning, we found ourselves in Bransfield Strait. Windy conditions made for excellent viewing of charismatic seabirds, such as black-browed albatrosses, gray-headed albatrosses, southern giant petrels, and pintado (Cape) petrels. We all gathered on deck for our passage through Neptune’s Bellows, the narrow entrance to the huge, flooded caldera of the ancient volcano now known as Deception Island.
After breakfast, we were taken by Zodiac to Whalers Bay. We had an opportunity to explore the historic remains of the early 20th-century whaling station and subsequent British Antarctic Survey base. Some of us undertook a two-mile roundtrip hike up onto the caldera rim, where we peered through Neptune’s Window, a rough-hewn gap in the basaltic rock. Antarctic fur seals and gentoo penguins greeted us as we paraded along the beach strewn with artifacts.
