Days 2-4 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: crossing #DrakePassage until we sighted Smith Island, South Shetland Islands. As expected, there were some rough seas, but I didn't feel well enough to take photos in the worst conditions.
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Day 5 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: approaching Neptune's Bellows, the narrow entrance to the 7 km wide flooded volcanic caldera of Deception Island, South Shetland Islands.
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Day 5 (continued) of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: first landing, at Telefon Bay, Deception Island, South Shetland Islands. From the landing site we walked to the summit of Cross Hill and around the phreatic eruption crater it stands on one side of.
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Day 5 (continued) of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: first close encounters with some of the local inhabitants at Telefon Bay, Deception Island, South Shetland Islands.
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Day 5 (continued) of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: second landing, at Whalers' Bay, Deception Island, South Shetland Islands. From the landing site we walked up a valley to a depression in the caldera rim from which Nathaniel B Palmer first sighted the mainland of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1820.
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Decaying remains of the old whaling station at Whalers' Bay, Deception Island, including a derelict whalers' hut that was used as the main accommodation building by British researchers stationed here between 1944 and 1969. Under an international agreement Deception Island is designated as an Antarctic Specially Managed Area, but there is little evidence of any management. The decaying remains of the station here are neither being conserved nor removed.

Wildlife encountered during our landing at Whalers' Bay, Deception Island.

Day 6 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: a close approach to Half Moon Island in McFarlane Strait, South Shetland Islands, but strong winds precluded a landing. Subsequently we approached close to Edinburgh Hill on Livingston Island, a volcanic plug exhibiting spectacular columnar jointing.
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