This morning the Caledonian Star sailed into Deception Island, a flooded volcanic caldera that has erupted as recently as 1970. We visited Whaler's Cove, Telefon Beach and then made a final stop at Pendulum Cove, where fumeroles near the beach heat the near shore waters to a toasty bath temperature. Boiled krill washed up along the beach testify to the fumeroles' effectiveness in heating the frigid Antarctic water. The sun wasn't out (it seldom is at Deception Island) but that didn't stop thirty or so guests and staff from lounging in the shallow water and hot sand.
Much of the old whaling station and several of the scientific research bases established here were destroyed by a series of eruptions in 1967 - 1970. The hot ash settled on snow and ice, causing destructive mud slides to rush down the steep slopes behind the structures.
