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

extremity of the island and there were more in the water, feeding near large
concentrations of feeding mollymauks. They raced through the water,
thrusting their heads high like spirited horses.
Wood Cove was passed and the high cliffs of Calm Head, not living up to
its name that day, but then in its lee the sea was less rough and we made better
time. Beyond Rodney Bluff the cliffs fell off in height towards the West, but the
bluff itself was impressive, and riddled with sea caves. Tussock-covered Sea
Dog Island came into sight and we passed between it and Cape Orford into
Smylie Channel, obtaining a very good view of the Horse Block as we did so.
This is a stack of rock, with an arch through the centre and high pinnacles at
each end, making it look like a scotch terrier perhaps, rather than a horse.
Weddell Island was by now only a few miles to the North, with rolling
rather bleak hills, and large areas of screes and stone runs. There was a great
tide rip, with foaming breakers to negotiate, abruptly demarcated from the
smoother but shallow water on each side; in the rip were swirling cauldrons of
‘boiling’ water. Nevertheless the Protector made surprisingly good speed. We
passed West Island and Tussock Island, between Stop Island and Dyke Island
into calmer water on the East coast of Weddell Island. We almost overshot
Gull Harbour, where the station is situated and tied up at the jetty at about 9.30
am.
It took about an hour to load the four human passengers, plus three
hundred sheep and dogs, which we were to take to Passage Island, and then
without going ashore we weighed anchor and headed north. The settlement
was very tidy but not so attractively pastoral as Port Howard. Passing along
the West shore of Weddell Island the ship was rolling badly and we lost a
sheep overboard; immediately the following giant petrels attacked it and it
didn’t last long. The hilly landscapes of Weddell, followed by Beaver Island
and New Island, were very beautiful, but the main island, across Queen
Charlotte Bay was relatively uninteresting. The four Passage Islands lay to the
North and we headed for Second Island. I talked with Morris McGill, the
Weddell Manager and arranged to collect some fox skins when we returned;
they are shot for bounty. He had interesting stories about the old sealing days
in the Falklands and in Tierra del Fuego. He had often seen fur seals near the
First Passage Island and thought they bred in caves on the South side.
We went through Whale Passage, appropriately meeting several sei
whales, and came in sight of West Point Island and Split Island; also the West
Point Passage, known locally as the Woollie Gut (for its ‘williewaws’). On the
North side of Second Passage Island we anchored in a small sheltered bay and
immediately made preparations for unloading the sheep. As we were
anchored out, this meant a long and arduous job, for the boats had to be rowed
in through the dense kelp zone and could only carry 18-20 sheep each trip.
The large ‘Johnny rooks’ (striated caracaras) came and perched on the ship,
uttering raucous cries and with them a number of smaller birds, including the
Falkland Islands wren. Flocks of penguins and shags were fishing nearby and
several seals swam amongst the kelp. In the bright sunshine it was an idyllic
scene. There was a small hut on the island and a wool shed near the shore.
The island was covered in tussac, grazed down in the centre, but hanging in a
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