Whalers Bay, Deception Island, Antarctica - One of the oldest ghost towns in the continent

(Photo: UK Antarctic Heritage Trust/YouTube)

Antarctica, also known as the South Pole, is the southernmost continent on the Earth. With its frigid climate conditions throughout the year, the icy landscape is virtually uninhabited. However, there were times when parts of the continent have been inhabited by humans more than a century ago.

One of the oldest and most popular habitations in the Antarctic Peninsula is Deception Island, a ghost town abandoned more than five decades ago. This island stretches at a diameter of about 12 kilometers and has a center of an incredibly large caldera.

A report from Ottsworld says that habitation in this island has started in the late 1800s to early 1900s when whale oil has been increasing in popularity. With the island's high whale population, expeditions have been flocking to the island and dwellings have been built in a port known as dwellers bay. It was first abandoned in the early 1930s when the price of oil has dropped due to the Great Depression.

It has been considered a ghost town until a decade later when it was revisited once again when a number of countries have been battling for its ownership. According to a report from Slate, Argentina, Chile and Britain were among those that fought for its sovereignty. Since then, bases from these countries have been built to create research and to possibly prevent Germany from invading during the Second World War.

An eruption in the 1960s has completely damaged scientific stations in the area forcing its dwellers to completely abandon the island. To this day, there are still a number of cruises that visit the area that allows travelers to get a first-hand glimpse of the wildlife and terrain in the region.

There are haunting images of abandoned wooden homes, rotting boats, rusting metal from boilers. Tourists could also get a glimpse of a small cemetery that is home to about 45 people who perished when it was still inhabited.

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