Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

(Nevertheless I think the crabeater may mate on the ice floes, because of the serial
polygamy they practice.) During the day we had seen the occasional penguin -
mostly chinstraps, but some Adélies. They were usually single, but some were in
small groups of 6-10. Other birds were scarce, but I noted sheathbills, gulls, snow
petrels, cape pigeons and a giant petrel. There was an unusual number of icebergs
all day, including some large tabular bergs that would not be out of place in the
Weddell Sea.
We were taking water at the bows; the chief engineer took me up there and
opened a hatch to show that a steady stream was flowing in - but there was nothing
to worry about yet! We had also been taking in krill with the engine cooling water
and the engineers brought some samples in. They were small, about 2.5 cm,
probably Euphausia crystallorophias (characteristic of the shelf waters) rather than
E.superba.
We stopped during the night because it wasn't possible to see where the leads
were, but started again at 4 o’clock and when I went up on deck after breakfast we
were moving along the edge of the ice, cutting across scattered lines of brash. We
continued all day in a northeasterly and easterly direction and sighted Ridley Island
and the nearby coast of King George Island about 11 o’clock., when there was still
extensive ice-pack; we were attempting to get around it to the east. Birds were more
abundant - many cape pigeons and a few snow petrels, giant petrels (including one
or two in the white phase plumage), fulmars, Wilson's petrels, a blue petrel, terns,
Antarctic petrels and a Dominican gull. Many penguins too, mostly in the water and
most of them chinstraps. There were several groups of a hundred or so, the largest,
probably nearer to a thousand birds, was about 200 metres long by 10 metres across.
They were swimming and feeding, then porpoising away when disturbed. We also
saw several fur seals on the ice, just in from the edge and a few crabeaters, singles
and pairs; a leopard seal lurked nearby in the water.
A swell developed during the afternoon as we continued along the ice edge until
a point about 43 miles from Aspland Island (in the Elephant Island group), and then
we turned into loose pack and headed south for King George Island. Although
classed as 8/8ths the pack was very broken and easily penetrated. Large numbers of
cape pigeons followed us, feeding in the pool the ship opened up behind us.
Next morning, 1 November, it was bright and sunny on deck, with King George
Island to starboard, the higher land masked by low cloud. I made out Penguin Point
and the entrance to Admiralty Bay as we continued through open pack, some of the
larger floes with larger than usual groups of crabeaters. Willy (the second Mate) was
sewing a Polish flag, as we shall be visiting the Polish base at Point Thomas, where
we were to disembark Wayne and Nick.
As we approached Point Thomas Rothera came up with another emergency. The
Argentines have a sick man at Belgrano; he has a stomach hemorrhage and they have
asked BAS to evacuate him because they have no planes in the area. Giles is the only
pilot with the experience and so after all we will have to defer his return to UK. I
instructed ‘Dog’ Holden and Dave Fletcher to comply with the Argentine request; a
message is expected from the British Embassy in Buenos Aires, but if the weather is
fine the aircraft should take off without delay. The ‘Biscoe’ will have to reconsider its
itinerary, but communication is still very difficult so I asked 'Dog' Holden to arrange
directly with Cambridge.
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