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

giants were in pairs at most nests now, still showing the behaviour I observed earlier.
The snowies were present in numbers.
Spring and Summer l948. Early in October we saw seven shags flying south and 12
terns over Three Lakes Valley. Derek went to Confusion Point off the South coast, an
island in three parts, with shags in the middle and chinstrap penguins either side. He
reported 86 shag nests in Clowes Bay and about 160 pairs of birds. There were more
Adélies on Gourlay Point and I saw a party of eight crossing the fast ice in Borge Bay
from the East towards the North Point rookeries. Six terns were flying in pairs over
their territories. There were many Cape pigeons and snowies were fighting on the
sea ice; two tangled in mid-air and fell to the ice still fighting, when one flew off and
the other stood and hurled abuse. I sat and watched the sunset and the activities of
the snowies from Berntsen Point. Two days later I went out to watch the sunset
colours on Coronation Island and sat just under the summit of Berntsen Point. There
were snowies on a rock a mere six feet away, finding difficulty in landing in a high
wind. One landed and sat close to me, restlessly turning its head from side to side,
the wind ruffling its feathers. Another flew up and hovered; the sitting bird joined it
and they flew off together - up and down and roundabout the crags - then both came
back and sat for a while before taking off again. I noticed a snowy chasing a white
giant petrel and terns with nesting materials; there were many giants.
Next day we saw penguin tracks leading down from Robin Col and across the
island to Balin Point. There were a dozen or so Dominican gulls hovering over their
nests in the valley, and about six pairs of terns similarly engaged. Parties of Adélie
penguins were now coming in across the ice all through the day, many moving over
towards Shingle Bay on Coronation Island. The colonies on Gourlay Peninsula were
about 25% occupied now. It was spring and life was abundant, a joyful time. Ralph
saw two skuas flying over Paal Harbour. In snowy nests he found two of last year's
unhatched eggs. Adélies continued to move in, many snowies and Cape pigeons,
giants, but no sheathbills seen. There were more terns about, with five pairs close to
the base. I saw a skua near Stygian Cove and the gulls were mobbing it; nearby was a
freshly killed snowy. There were six pairs of terns in Three Lakes Valley.
On 11 October I watched a Weddell seal give birth on the sea ice. Six Dominicans
arrived within a few minutes of the afterbirth and stood in a ring 6 yards away. Then
a giant petrel flew in and landed about a yard behind the female; it tried to take the
placenta and the cow turned, roaring, and snapping at it. The petrel galloped around,
first on one side and then on the other, with the cow lunging to right and left. The
giant petrel eventually gave up, began to pick at the pup's umbilical cord and finally
squatted down a yard or so from the female, who occasionally roused and made a
lunge, apparently stimulated by the pup's barking. The ‘dress circle’ increased to
nine pairs of Dominican gulls and two sheathbills. The giant petrel pecked at the
pup's back and pulled out some tufts of hair, then walked away, cleaned its bill in the
snow and settled down. The gulls moved away from it, as a pair of skuas arrived and
gulls rose to mob them. A few days later a tern stooped at me in Elephant Flats and
one was mobbing a skua; the terns had nesting material in their beaks. There were
also giants, Cape pigeons, sheathbills and Dominicans, including one immature; but
no snowies.
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