Neptune's Bellows
Neptune's Bellows is the channel from Port Foster into the open sea on the south-east side of Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands, part of the British Antarctic Territory. The headlands through which it opens are Fildes Point to the north and the unimaginatively named Entrance Point to the south.
The name of the channel, after the Roman sea god Neptune, was appended by American sealers before 1822, because of the strong gusts experienced in this narrow channel.
Deception Island is an almost circular ring with Port Foster in its heart; the best sheltered harbour in Antarctica. The island is a volcano, Port Foster being its main crater, breached at Neptune's Bellows and flooded.
Fildes reports:
The entrance is by the Americans called Neptune's Billow's owing to the gusts that blow in and out as if they came through a trumpet or funnell [sic]..."—Fildes, c 1821c
Another name that has been attributed to the channel is 'Dragons Mouth', after the sealing ship Dragon from Liverpool, which visited the South Shetland Islands in 1820-21.[1] The French Antarctic Expedition under Charcot of 1908-10 charted it as Passe du Challenger, possibly after HMS Challenger of the British Challenger Expedition, 1872-76.
Location
- Location map: 62°59’39"S, 60°33’50"W
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References
- ↑ Davis, 1821-22; 30 December 1821
- Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Neptune's Bellows
