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

and it was then time for lunch. There were 28 seals in Paal Harbour: 5 large, 6 small,
17 medium males.
A few days later a smallish elephant seal hauled out in Gash Cove and I set out
to kill it. Derek came along to give me a hand to turn it over. He wanted to try the .45
revolver to see if it was more effective than the .303 rifle. We took the plate camera
down so as to get photographs of the seal before shooting it, as these should be more
value than photos of a stretched-out lifeless lump. It would be useful to have a
gallery of pictures to compare with the other data I collected. In the next cove there
was a smaller seal on the cemented floes at the water's edge and I decided to have a
go at it as well. After photographing it Derek took two shots to kill it – the second
breaking the neck, but not I hoped the skull. We then went back to shoot the first one.
Derek fired about six times without killing it and I had to go back for more
ammunition before it was dispatched; it wasn't possible to turn it over in order to kill
it quickly by stabbing in the heart. I began to deal with the smaller seal, which was a
female: removed ovaries, reproductive tract and mammary glands as well as making
other routine measurements and collections. The other seal, an immature male, took
longer and because of my lack of experience I found no testes in the usual position;
the only organ which I pickled hoping it might be a testis was, I later decided, a
lymph gland! I was still a bit queasy about killing but it had become more matter-offact.
These operations took time and I needed a break to warm my hands which,
covered with frozen blood, were rather cold. Neither of the stomachs contained any
food and but few parasites. The male seal had several 8-9 inch tapeworms in its
rectum and I collected these. Leaving the seals’ heads above high water mark, I
carried the other specimens back to the hut and the afternoon passed quickly dealing
with them. I collected the skulls and cleaned them next morning.
A couple of days later I counted the seals on Drying Point and then picked my
way across the floes in the mouth of Elephant Flats; the route was quite firm and
safe. The count was quicker than usual as there were fewer seals than before and I
was able to get across to the islands and around parts of the coast on the sea ice. The
seal I had shot in Starfish Bay had been more or less picked clean by four giant
petrels, which ambled away at my approach; they had done a good job of cleaning
the skeleton or at least the part showing above the snow. I walked round to Stygian
Cove and found a number of seals in small coves, where before I had only seen one
or two at a time.
I hurried back across the three lakes, as one foot was wet as a result of putting it
through the ice. At –20°C it was very cold and I was white-haired with rime, at least
my beard was, by the time I got back. An elephant was lying on the bay ice like a fat
black slug, its trail leading from Billie Rock. There were 240 seals in all on this stretch
of the coast, more than I had expected.
On 15 May we climbed Robin Peak and had a good view from the top. Down in
the bay elephants lay on the thick ice or crawled about leaving brown slug-trails of
excreta on the pristine snow. There were several groups on the beach, showing up
distinctly against the white surround. From these came clouds of steam and
snortings and bellowings. Brief upheavals could be seen, while two bulls had a
difference of opinion ending in apparent exhaustion. A large crack in the sea ice
extended out to the pack and the stillness was broken by sounds of further cracks
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