Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

accessible. We had breakfast and loaded the dory with tent, sleeping bags and food
etc. in case the sea changed and a stay on the other side was necessary. As we were
about to launch the boat the day suddenly changed and within ten minutes - no more
- the wind had turned to the north and had whipped up the sea into white horses. At
the same time cloud began to pour south over the cols on Coronation Island, where it
tended to bank up on the heavily iced north coast, and the peaks were soon shrouded
in cloud. Of course with the country under cloud there was not much point crossing
over, as one objective was to carry on the survey and there wasn't much future in
that if one couldn't see anything! We decided to give it an hour to change, but it
worsened so rapidly that it was obvious our plans would have to be cancelled. The
day remained changeable with variable mists, a frequent rumble of avalanches from
Coronation Island and calving ice cliffs and bergs. Wave Peak looked very remote
when it appeared above a layer of mist. There was much more rock showing than
ever before.
Autumn l949. We were into autumn now. By mid-March the horizon to the south was
open water and next day a violent storm hit us. More foul weather arrived, with
blizzards, and on 1 April the temperature was only -10°C, but rose during the day to
-7°C. We awoke to fitful gleams of sunshine but when the morning mists dispersed
the sun shined brightly until about 6.30 pm. Next day began with the temperature at
about -14°C and it steadily fell by a couple of degrees. This was well below the mean
temperature for April and only a few degrees higher than the absolute April
minimum for the South Orkneys - and it was only the second day of the month!
Associated with the low temperature was a wind and frequent snowfalls.
The temperature was up slightly next morning and a snowfall overnight had
added 2 ins to the drifts; it remained cold throughout the day and a strong wind
whipped up the snow. On 4 April it was fairly warm -7°C. A strong wind blew all
day with snow and occasional hailstorms. The hut was very cold, with frost crystals
growing on the floor; what was it going to be like in the coming winter? But then
next day, the temperature was -3°C and rose during the day by 2 degrees; the wind
strong in the morning, dropped and there were several hours of calm. Pack ice
lurked off the southeast corner of the island.
Two days later was poor, although good in comparison with the recent weather,
but the barometer suddenly dropped and a strong wind came, bringing with it heavy
snow and whipping up the sea. We had freezing rain next morning with temperature
at -1°C, succeeded by a sudden drop in temperature and blinding snow - another
cold front had arrived! The day remained poor and the temperature fell to -10.5°C
with a further fall in temperature overnight and some new snow. The pack was
moving in under the influence of a southerly wind, and that night it was about
halfway between Signy and the Robertson Islands; it was solid all the way to the
horizon. On 9 April the day warmed to freezing point but, with the passage of a cold
front, the pen arm of the thermograph dropped vertically for several degrees. It
eased off a little and ended that night at -13.2°C. A blizzard blew throughout the day,
with the wind remarkably constant around 40 mph.
Winter l949 10 April introduced more wintry conditions; a fine day with young ice
covering most of the bay and the surrounding hills mirrored in the open
187