Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

Platt. The former conveys a very unfavourable impression, but Platt was no longer
there for discussion. I asked Everson and Pawley to delve deeper, with a view to
letting me have an opinion in about a week. I would then decide whether to remove
Stephens or prevent Platt's return, but hoped neither would be necessary.
On 20 January we woke to thick fog through which the Bransfield was slowly
moving into Stewart Strait. The sea around us abounded with life: fur seals
porpoising, penguins bounding away, superb albatrosses gliding around,
shoemakers, giant petrels, prions and others. Although we were still unable to see
the island I went ashore in the gemini, on a compass course. We heard the breakers
and then saw them faintly white at the base of the cliffs, through the grey fog.
There was a fair swell and we had to avoid patches of kelp and rocks. As we
entered the mouth of Jordan Cove we heard the clamour of the seals through the
mist and then as we reached the calmer waters of the cove we saw the seals in their
thousands lining the shore and in the tussock above - and we were hit by the
musky smell. The base came in sight and the three occupants, Mike Payne, Pete
Prince and Derek Turner came to meet us as the inflatable grounded on a gently
sloping beach of grey gravel.
When I was there in l951, although I passed close to Bird Island I was never able
to land from the sealing vessels. There were then probably a few thousand fur
seals, a great increase on the numbers during the l930s. In l936, only twelve pups
were seen on Bird Island; Nigel Bonner in l956 estimated 8,000 to 12,000 animals at
South Georgia, excluding pups. Now Payne's work indicated that there were at
least 60,000 pups born at South Georgia, about half of them on Bird Island,
indicating a total population of about 120,000 now. These large numbers had made
a great impact on the vegetation, and the tussock in Jordan Cove was flattened and
eroded by their passage. There were also large muddy areas, carpeted by the grass
Deschampsia antarctica.
We went up to inspect the huts, which were in reasonable condition, although
they would need re-roofing before the party left. We agreed to put in a builder to
do this. When the party arrived they had found the living hut had been broken into
by seals and was in an indescribably damaged and filthy state. Now it is very wellordered
and reflects well on the team. We talked about their programme over a
cup of coffee, looking out at the seals. All seemed to have gone well. The late arrival
was a disadvantage, because it was more difficult to get started - Payne's work was
very productive - on fur seals and diving petrels. Prince was doing some fine work
on the blue petrel and hoped to make a comparative study on the dove prion’s
feeding habits. They have found a new diagnostic character, distinguishing the two
species of diving petrel; a black line down the back of the leg is characteristic of
georgicus. Turner appeared to have been much less successful and had not
achieved as much as hoped. Also, he wouldn't paintmark the sitting albatrosses
because he wanted to photograph them; this meant that he had to read the rings to
see which bird was sitting. This took time and presumably caused more
disturbance.
The base was a base-hut in the old style. On entering there was a work area,
then the kitchen and eating area, then bunks (furthest from the door). Outside there
was a small generator hut containing three generators and a small deep-freeze, a
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