White Island is an active marine volcano about 90 minutes by boat from Whakatane. We took a boat trip out to the island and got the chance to walk around in the crater. It was a rather surreal experience, especially when they told us that it blew as recently as last October, covering the island in several feet of mud and ash. We decided that three hours was a very small window in geologic terms, so we were probably pretty safe. Ironically, two days after this tour there was an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale that was centered just south of us.
On the boat trip out to the island, we came across a pod of porpoises.
We had to wear protective gear for the walk: hardhats in case of flying rock and gas masks for the sulfur gasses that could become sulfuric acid if breathed in. We felt quite secure in our new gear.
There was a lake of hot water in the crater. Sometimes it gets hot enough it boils right off.
The magma is 500 metres below the surface at this point.
Lots of steam was venting. The yellow on the ground is sulfur.
It was an interesting place with pools of bubbling mud.
On the back side of the island there was a colony of gannets.
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