Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

eautifully framed. I was very touched and made a short speech in reply. Later
Amanda came along to tell me the Quiz had been brought forward to 8.30 pm. I
found myself in one of the teams, with Andy Woods, Dave, Steve, Rod and Martin.
We came second! After more talk I managed to get away at 12.30 am; the party went
on until 2.15 am!
Passing through patches of pack ice next morning, I saw my first pack ice seal – a
crabeater. The sea had been flattened by the presence of ice and I noticed that the
ship had a marked list to port. By 9 o’clock the pack was denser and the floes larger.
Throughout the day we saw numbers of Cape pigeons, some Antarctic petrels and a
few snow petrels. There were two minke whale sightings in leads. It was dull and
overcast with dark grey mist, except where ice blink showed. After the rough going
it was a change to be on a level keel. I did some editing of Yasu Naito’s papers on
seal and penguin diving behaviour and made various visits to the bridge. The water
here was very clear – no plankton – and the underwater ‘ramps’ of the floes are a
beautiful electric blue. As we entered the pack I noted six bull fur seals lying like
slugs on the ice. There were a few crabeaters during the day. At noon the Fids came
up to my cabin for a drink and chat, which was pleasant. The afternoon passed
quietly, reading, writing, interspersed with visits to the bridge. The pack thickened,
but there were large open leads. Two more minkes were seen – these really do seem
to be the most abundant whale here - and a few penguins were porpoising. Dinner
was quiet and the evening passed slowly. We found a large lead and stopped for the
night, with the Inaccessible Islands in sight about 15 miles SE, using the bow
thrusters to maintain position. At one point I thought a whale was near, but it turned
out to be the turbulence created by the thrusters. Turned in at 10 o’clock.
Bumps announced movement again as we nudged through the pack next
morning, quite large floes with open leads of flat leaden rippled water. We were
making about 6-8 knots, our course south of Signy and then north into the sound.
The pack thickened and we began to wonder if we could get ashore to relieve the
base. It remained overcast but bright due to the snow and many icebergs. No sign of
land.
We slowly made progress through bands of dense pack and leads of open water,
the route taking us S of Signy, then N. At 10 o’clock we sighted land – vague
markings of darker grey rocks against the snow. It cleared a bit and slowly I made
out the land of Coronation Island, topped by dense grey cloud. It was slow going,
even with the propulsion power at 6000 kw. Sunshine Glacier and Shatttered Ridge
became identifiable and then parts of Signy Island E coast. Seals had been seen, but
numbers now increased. I counted 82 crabeaters – two with pups, two Weddells and
one leopard before 11 o’clock. There were solitary penguins, then groups. The ice
closed its grip and it became clear that this could become a very slow progress –
which it did. The heeling system pumping 70 tons of water from tanks to tank was
deployed to rock the ship – up to 15 degrees – and reduce the grip of the ice. For half
an hour around noon I counted only eight crabeaters, one Weddell and two leopards,
probably/possibly because the ship was making slow progress. The low cloudbase
of grey persisted until 4.30 pm or so, when it gradually cleared and revealed the
mountains of Coronation Island – a beautiful, well remembered view.
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