deception-island-ruins antarctica

Deception Island – Antarctica’s Haunted Beauty

The island is surreal.

Sailing thru a narrow rocky gap into a submerged volcanic crater.

Jagged rim of the volcano rising around you. The black crust torn with shards of snow.

On the dark shore, ruined buildings and giant storage tanks crushed by a gray misty sky.

Panorama of Whaler’s Bay station. The research ship was my transport around Antarctica.

Human occupation began on Deception Island in 1911


Norway established a whaling station, that closed in 1931 following a slump in whale oil prices.

The British Navy – in 1944 – made a base here that after the war became a science research station.

Ruined WW2 British spy station.

The base was occupied continuously until 1967, when a volcanic eruption forced an evacuation of the base.

deception-island-ruins antarctica
Ruins of Whaling Station at Whaler’s Bay on Deception Island.

Then in 1969, as a mud-flow destroyed most buildings during a second eruption, they abandoned the Deception Island base permanently.

Travels in Antarctica – 2003

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