Goodbye Palmer/Deception Island

[Written by Elizabeth Leonardis for our old blog, So Civilized]

Alex & I waving goodbye in front of our lab at Palmer Station

Penguin vomiting with the Gould in the background (I love this photo)

There were scientists aboard studying local fungi at Deception Island and in the Palmer Station vicinity. We ended up leaving a day early so these scientists from University of Minnesota could stop at Deception Island again on the way back. Deception Island is a submerged volcano, where the caldera is the actual bay that you enter, and it was originally used as a whaling station. There are now remains of an old British station which was abandoned after an eruption in the 1960′s. It is now a popular destination for cruise ships to stop and further into the bay lies a seasonal Argentinian base.

The view from the bow of the ship as we headed into Deception Island

Remains of the old British Base on the shores of Deception Island

Self portrait

Deception Island beach

We were all thrilled to have an opportunity to get off the ship and walk around Deception Island for the afternoon. There is the abandoned buildings of the old base, plenty of seals and penguins, plus hotsprings that can be made by digging into the sand on the beach to reach the scolding hot water. The penguins were our big obstacle in making our pools. They were swimming around at a feverish pace, coming very close to us and creating a small wake in the water that was breaking down our walls. One of them even made an appearance in one of our photos.

Paul enjoying his hotspring

Our pool with crazy penguin in the background

The rest of our journey took another 3 days before we reached Punta Arenas, Chile. Although not excited to be back on the ship, 4 days versus 30 days during the cruise in January, was a significant improvement. It appears Alex & I have acquired sea legs at some points during our Antarctic stay. My favorite part of the journey were the Commerson’s Dolphins that we encountered in the Straits of Maggellan. They are beautiful dolphins and for about 30 minutes could be seen swimming all around the ship.

Commerson's Dolphins