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

Chapter 15
The Island of South Georgia: Summer
and Autumn, l951-52
Royal Bay, South Georgia
O
ne of the Dependencies of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia lies in the
South Atlantic Ocean between latitudes 53° 50' and 55° S. and longitudes
35° 50' and 38° 15' W. The island is about 120 miles long from northwest
to south-east and its greatest breadth is under thirty miles: it is heavily
glaciered with an indented coastline and a backbone of high mountains rising to
some 10,000 ft. We had sailed x miles, taking
On 14 March, 1951, at 9.30 am the John Biscoe tied up alongside the F/F
Southern Venturer at Leith Harbour, in Stromness Bay, South Georgia and I set foot
on the island for the first time. We were at Leith for only a short time and my
overwhelming impression was of the noise of machinery, smell, steam and smoke,
ramshackle buildings of rough construction – wood, rusty corrugated iron,
peeling paint, and hard working men. There were jetties at which whale catchers
were tied up – small, purpose-built vessels. Then Biscoe moved on down the coast
to Cumberland Bay and the government station at King Edward Point, where I
was to spend a year as Base Leader and Biologist. We passed along a rugged
coastline, backed by glaciers and high mountains.
Entering Cumberland Bay we headed for its eastern arm. A strong warm wind
was blowing off the land, and as we rounded Sappho Point, we were enveloped
by a powerful sickly sweet, oily smell. It was compounded of whale oil and blood,
and diesel oil fumes, borne on the wind in a cloud of black smuts and glowing red
hot particles. They came from a factory, owned by Compaña Argentina de Pesca
(Pesca for short), half a mile away across the King Edward Cove. As we
approached we could see the whaling station, lit by a red glow and emitting
clouds of steam and smoke – a scene from Dante’s Inferno. Known as Pesca, for
short, or Grytviken, its purpose was to make money from whales, by hunting and
killing them with catcher boats, using explosive harpoons. Then the carcasses
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