Making the most of Whalers Bay Deception Island
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
As cruise ships are not able to dock here you will be tendered by inflatable zodiac boats.
Sightseeing
Deception Island. The island received this name because on casual observation it appears to be similar to the other surrounding islands. On closer inspection, the island is shaped like a ring, and there is a narrow entrance that allows access to the inner bay. The entrance is named Neptune's Bellows. Once past the opening, it opens up to Whalers bay. The entrance to Whaler's Bay was discovered many years after the island itself. The cruise through the narrow opening was quite an experience. Deception Island is the largest of three active volcanoes in the South Shetland Islands. The most recent eruptions were in 1956, 1967, 1969 and 1970.…
The remnants of the whaling station and its large boilers remain there today. Processing plants like this were used before larger self-contained factory ships were made. These larger ships would travel with other smaller ships that would hunt the whales and then bring them to the larger ship to be processed. This was much more economical then land based operations.