Arms of the British Antarctic Territory

Pendulum Cove

(Port Foster)

British Antarctic Territory

Location: 62° 56' 7" S 60° 35' 59" W
NE side of Port Foster (q.v.), Deception Island, was charted and so named by Foster in 1829 from the pendulum station which he established there for gravity measurements. The cove was recharted by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1908-10, in December 1908, when the name Sobroan Harbour was found on a board fixed to two uprights on the beach, presumably following the use of the cove as a whaling station in 1906-07. A brief Argentine hut was established on the cove in 1949 and re-established in December 1953; a station manned by Chilean Air Force personnel, was established on the cove in January 1955. The Chilean station was evacuated following the volcanic eruption at Deception Island, 4 December 1967, but was subsequently occupied seasonally until destroyed by a further eruption in February 1969. The extent of the cove was reduced by these eruptions.