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

straight-edge of purple cloud to the east of it. This changed to a strangely luminous
yellow brown - the crags of Coronation standing out as if bathed in flames. As we
watched the clear sky was invaded by cloud starting as a 'wooliness' along the
summit ridges. The yellows turned through orange to crimson and the purples
became richer. The final state was a deep purple sky with the mountains showing in
parts as glowing cobalt, and in other parts as a dull white wall. Finally a further
clearance occurred to the east and the half moon appeared.
Spring l949. On 3 September the ice was breaking up all around - open water
extended in a U-shape from the Oliphant Islands to Return Point; there was open
water at Cape Vik and patches around the bergs off the west coast. It looked
unpromising. The see-saw of periods of low temperatures and fine calm weather
succeeded by higher temperatures and poor weather with gales continued as the
depressions moved through remorselessly. On 8 September the pack was pressed
tight against the young ice but would move out again with a suitable wind.
A week later the temperature was -1°C after a rapid rise overnight and rose to
+1°C during the day. Charlie and Derek went up to Garnet Hill in the afternoon
when it was clearer, and watched the ice going out quite rapidly; there appeared to
be open water to the Divide. Next came a foul day with temperature above freezing
and gale and sleet. When I went outside the door that morning I saw that the
anemometer was smashed and the nephoscope (instrument for looking at clouds)
had been wrenched from its post. The temperature remained high, the wind at gale
force and snow and sleet squalls. On the morning of 22 September the temperature
was +1°C and there was no wind, but the weather soon deteriorated and by evening
we were in a howling gale with the temperature at -6.5°C. It continued. John, Charlie
and I went out on ski to the ice edge where I had been observing the seals, and again
on 25 September, a warm day with temperature up to +2.5°C. These days were
overcast and the wind was strong and persistent. The cracks in the fast ice were
about 6 inches to 1 ft wide and had a film of brown algal scum (diatoms), one or two
Pyrosoma colonies and I saw one of the orange alcyonarians.
By contrast 26 September was a lovely day with temperatures up to +2.5°C; the
sun shone brightly all day and produced a solar maximum temperature of 39°C. But
next day a blizzard was raging outside and everything was very wet. So it continued,
some days up to +2°C and calm, others colder with persistent wind, and
temperatures falling to -16°C at night. Working outside, which we had to do, was
rigorous.
We observed an eclipse of the moon on 6 October, the shadow a deep purple. A
few days later during the night the temperature rose to 6.5°C and it was 3°C next
morning. Consequently the snow cover disappeared almost overnight and in places
there were streams under the snow. The sea ice was bare of snow and covered with
green pools of thaw water. Brown and green algal growth made variegated stains on
the surface and along the lines of the cracks. On 12 October I went round the seals in
the morning and returned soaked, as I was out in a blizzard of wet snow. Next day
the temperature was down to -3°C and a bitter wind was blowing.
But on 14 October the temperature was up again to 6.5°C. Walking over the sea
ice, with its large pools of thaw water, reminded one of being on the sands of an
estuary at low tide. Delicate sunset colourings were reflected in the pools,
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