Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

which was hidden by a mirage that receded as we approached it. The whole area
must extend over hundreds of square miles at low tide.
We found a porpoise, Phocoena dioptrica, lots of large whale vertebrae, four killer
whales that died in l974 but were still not skeletons - and a beaked whale,
Hyperoodon, skull almost buried in the mud. This was a special prize and so we
stopped to dig it out and clean it up leaving a large hole in the flat mud. We had
lunch from the tailboard of the Dodge and then got into the vehicles to continue the
search. John Bengtson who was driving the truck, revved-up the engine, engaged
gear and was about to drive into the only hole within 30 miles, and one we had dug
ourselves what's more, when I stopped him! We had a good laugh. We found
another four Phocoena dioptrica, probably representing at that time 50% of the total
numbers in the world's museums! We also found four more killer whales and a
mummified crabeater seal that had come up from the Antarctic like us - perhaps
from the South Shetlands Islands. It was a yearling some 185 cm long.
Then as we were about to leave the flats again we saw some black shapes
shimmering through the mirage – high up in the air - which turned out to be seven
sperm whales that must have been stranded about six months ago. They were about
30-40 ft long and the teeth were small; in one individual they were unusually widelyspaced.
In their final death struggles as the tide receded they had excavated shallow
pits which were now pools of water and oil, from the whales' blubber.
Next we left the flats and drove on to the north end of the bay to a long shingle
spit, the Paramo Peninsula. It must be about 14 miles long, made up of longitudinal
furrows and ridges, successively thrown up by the wave action. A road ran along it
and there was a lighthouse near the tip. We parked the cars and walked over an area
scattered with many sea lion bones, some perhaps as more than a hundred years old,
judging by their crumbly state and lichen encrustation. There used to be a huge sea
lion colony here. From the beach we also saw four Commerson's dolphins, a group
of swimming cormorants and a very large flock of terns. There were large breakers
on the outside of the peninsula, but in the bay the water was almost stagnant and
calm, some streaks in the sunlight a startlingly bright green, a consequence of its
shallow nature perhaps.
We drove back to the base of the Peninsula where we cooked supper on a
driftwood fire we made in a fireplace in a ruined hut, which had no roof and only
two walls still standing. It was built by a gold prospector, named Potter, and we
were told that he was so successful that he struck his own coins and had a private
army - but that was all long gone. Dinner was delicious: steaks grilled on a sheet of
metal, a mixed soup and apple berry fool, finishing with tea. The sea was just a few
yards away and it made a very enjoyable conclusion to a most interesting day. It was
getting dark when we left about 9.30 pm, heading for Cape San Domingo about 20
km from Rio Grande - to ensure that we caught our plane the next day. We quickly
put up the tents and were in our sleeping bags by 1 o’clock.
We were up at 7 o’clock to another clear, calm sunny day and drove into Rio
Grande carrying the odd mummified crabeater on the roof! There we changed and
repacked our suitcases and had breakfast at the Café Roca; John Bengtson and Ian
Cameron had ‘submarinos’, huge sandwiches, the rest of us just coffee. Arriving at
the airport about 10 o’clock we found that the others had already arrived on the
morning flight from Ushuaia. On the way to Buenos Aires we landed at Rio Gallegos
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