Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

to obscure the view of Mounts Paget and Sugartop. So returned to the shore by the
gun hut and back along the beach. It didn't seem like 32 years since I had been
working day by day on Hestesletten and trudging home along the boulder beach,
feeling rather weary.
I had a shower and while I was changing Eric Heathhorn came in. He had been
drinking, was very emotional and made a number of desperate appeals. He was
clutching an automatic rifle that he had taken from one of the squaddies. We
managed to pacify him. I talked his case over again with John Cole, Eric Salmon and
our two doctors. He would have to go out to Stanley on the Olna, an RFA transport
which had arrived that day. This was done and later the diagnosis was confirmed.
Had he been allowed to remain he might not have survived. The Army gave a party
at KEP but I didn't go. Instead I took some photos of Bransfield, with lights and
reflections, read and listened to music.
I went ashore for a stroll before breakfast next day and learnt that one of the
Army privates died during the night. He had been drinking heavily and died of
asphyxiation; what a sad way to go. We left at 9.30 am, out past the buoys marking
the position of the Santa Fé (Argentine submarine taken by Endurance and later
scuttled in deep water). Just outside Cumberland Bay we sighted a whale, or rather
the flukes of a whale, as a "V" in the distance. Strangely it remained in this position
for about five minutes. We altered course to come up with it. It was a right whale,
by now wallowing in the slight swell, moving slowly and leaving a series of oily
slicks on the surface. The large double blow-hole was very distinctive, and the blow
a textbook "V", the double spout characteristic of right whales. We could see the
details of the bonnet and caruncles very clearly and received a clear impression of a
very broad, very round, smooth, brown/grey back. It dived a few times, just
showing the flukes, but not as before. We followed it around in a circle - and
wondered what the Navy's radar made of our antics!
Then we turned south about off the coast, past the well-remembered features: St
Andrew's Bay, Royal Bay, Gold Harbour etc. and Cooper Island. Off Gold Bay we
passed close to the Russian Factory Trawlers and a large mother ship - from
Murmansk - one of them called the Frans Hals. We also saw our first two icebergs of
the trip. Unfortunately the island remained black and white, the peaks shrouded in
cloud. I went up to the bridge again later and saw Cape Disappointment and the
west coast - including the well-remembered ridge with the hole in it. A video film
"Caddy Shack" was shown after dinner - very amusing. Next day, after slight rolling
during the night the sea worsened and by the afternoon we were rolling badly in a
heavy swell. The following night was again very bad, with excessive movement and
difficulty sleeping because of it. It was no better in the morning. At 9 o’clock we
were about 50 miles from Laurie Island, South Orkneys; at 10.30 am the sun came out
and we met the first southern fulmars and plenty of other birds. However, as we
approached the land the fog came down again and obscured it. We went through
Lewthwaite Strait with both shores visible, but grey and white. The cloud was down
to 2,000ft.
Emerging from the southern end we saw the Divide to the west, with the "Dog
Rock" guarding it to the south. Past Matthews Island and Coffer Island - where I
spent mid-winter encamped in l949! The amazing thing was that there were very
few icebergs. Normally hundreds would be grounded around the islands over
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