Whaling in Antarctica

Antarctica was explored initially by hunters of two types of marine mammals: fur seals and whales. Before it became a challenge for adventurers and explorers, it was secretively mapped out by sealers with their own favorite islands. Later, whalers established primitive settlements where the carcasses of their prey could be hauled out and turned into commercial products. It was to just such a whaling station on South Georgia Island that Sir Ernest Shackleton turned as the launching point for his Transantarctic Expedition, and it was to there that he returned more dead than alive after his historic ordeal.

We visited the remains of such a station on Whaler's Bay, inside Deception Island. These stations became obsolete with the launching of the giant factory ships which could process the catch at sea. Deception Island is an active volcano. Its side was breached by an eruption, and the crater is flooded.

Deception Island

Whaler's Bay Whaler's Bay Whaler's Bay has been designated a historic site, so the buildings, fuel tanks and rendering vats have been left as they were after the mudslide from the last eruption.
Fuel tanks Rendering vats The large tanks were used to store fuel for the ships. The smaller ones were used to render and store whale oil.
Rust, lichen and gulls Looking through the old floating dry dock Water heated by the volcano Water heated by the volcano wells up by the beach, so some hardy souls went swimming,
The old living quarters All that's left of the kitchen Only a few buildings survived the eruptions. A flow of black volcanic mud swept away all but this stove.
A whaler's grave The explanitory plaque The graveyard was once larger, but it too was obliterated by the eruption. A plaque gave the history of the place.
Norwegian water boat on half moon island Whale jaw bone on Half Moon Island On Half Moon Island we found the remains of a Norwegian water boat that had been tossed on shore by a storm. The island also had some weathered whale bones.

Live Whales

Thar she blows! A fin in the distance A couple of times a day the bridge would announce "There's a whale off the port bow", or "Some Minke whales ahead, We would jump up and rush to the rail and, if we were lucky, catch sight of a spout as a whale came up to breath a couple of hundred yards away.
Then one day while we were having dinner, someone yelled, "Whales!"   At first we ignored it assuming that they would be gone in a few minutes -- not long enough to go to our cabin and retrieve a camera.  However, some passengers came back and said the whale were still there.  So, Marie couldn't stand it any longer and ran and grabbed the camera and started taking pictures -- eventually filling the entire chip.

I think the pod of Humpbacks were just playing with us.  I bet they could hear us squeal as we ran from side to side on the front deck as the whales went under the ship and surfaced on the other side.

One of the whales exhaled right by the boat.  The naturalist, said "Ugh! Whale breath." That whale definitely had halitosis.