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

ut she was unwilling and humped away. He then paired with cow no. 1 who
appeared receptive, but roared at intervals. Cow no.2 indulged in some snowflipping;
no.1 then made movements as if trying to get away – or possibly she had an
orgasm?! The bull was very active during copulation and there was not much doubt
that impregnation occurred.
The yellow bull moved closer as the other was occupied in mating with cow no.
1 who was baying a little and evidently trying to escape – but half-heartedly. The
new bull tightened his grasp on her with the digits of his foreflipper. Then he noticed
that yellow bull had drawn near and moved away from the cow, which escaped –
yelping. The yellow bull moved off, pursued by the new bull, until both came to a
halt and the new bull flipped snow onto its back several times. We obtained further
pup weights, including one of 240 pounds.
On this day, 26 October, to my consternation I found the bull elephant which I
shot on 2 July on Drying Point and left for dead, now wedged in a cleft between two
rocks about 10 feet above sea level near Waterpipe Beach. According to my diary I
thought at the time that the only explanation was that waves flung it up there; but
thinking it over this couldn't be right, because the sea was calm when the seal was
shot and froze over the following day. Was it my conscience at work? I didn't like to
contemplate my responsibility for its suffering? I climbed up and found that it was
indeed the seal killed in July. With those terrible injuries it must have ‘come round’,
swum 600 yards across the bay, hauled out on Waterpipe Beach, climbed the slope to
the south of the beach and fallen over the edge of the cliffs there, lodging in the cleft
where I found it. I was comforted by the thought that shock syndrome must have
come into play and reduced its agony. It was a truly sad and cautionary tale and I
resolved to take extra care in future.
The check on the seals the following day showed no change in the yellow harem
and the red/yellow bull in charge of the green harem, lying quietly amongst the
cows. When I appeared he moved four yards in my direction and came to rest facing
me and alert. He then moved further in an arc of about six yards, but fortunately, as I
was handicapped on skis, turned back and made for the cows, which roared – and
one moved away. The bull reared up and bellowed, but was undecided and slumped
down again. He attempted to mate with cow no. 2, but was unsuccessful because she
moved away. The other cows weren't receptive and moved about as he tried to pair
with them; he didn't persist.
The ice was beginning to break up and the next few days saw major changes in
the situation. By 28 October open sea showed to the east, with five fin whales
cruising along just off the ice-edge, blowing in a patch of mirror-calm sea; further out
the pack lined the horizon. Next day there were sleet and snow blizzards in the
morning as I skied around the seals. The yellow harem had now moved into the
whaler’s cemetery, the yellow bull still in charge. There was a mucous flow from cow
no.1 – indicating she was in oestrus? The red/yellow bull was still in charge of the
green harem and he chased me; red/yellow harem had six cows with pups and the
yellow bull also chased me. Even on flat sea ice, when a bull made a charge, it was
easy to get one’s skis ‘in a twist’ – even to fall over – so there were some tense
moments. The blizzard got worse and the visibility was very low. At about 7 o’clock,
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