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

An important part of my research was to collect material by shooting and
examining elephant seals, to obtain hard data on their population ecology
(reproduction, growth and age, and population structure). This was necessary if
we were to learn anything about the population and its dynamics, in order to
manage the sealing industry rationally and sustainably. So that day we shot three
cows and made collections. In one I found a tiny embryo in the uterus; another,
when shot rolled into the surf and we had the devil of a job to collect the essential
data and specimens; by the time we were finished we were soaked in cold, bloody
sea water.
We also collected teeth, for ageing, from four other carcasses, including a bull
we found with a bullet wound in the head, killed no more than a day or so before.
This was disturbing, for it meant that someone from Pesca had shot it and I
reported the crime to the Magistrate after we had rowed back to base. Then in
extreme contrast we had a bath and did some domestic chores and afterwards
took a boat through a snowstorm across to Grytviken, where we saw an amusing
Swedish film, with Norwegian subtitles (which didn't help us!). Much later we
returned in the boat, with the lights of the whaling station reflected in water, all
very still, and wintry. So ended my first day's field-work at South Georgia – what
a contrast to the Signy Island years, particularly the bath and film!
Next day the specimens were examined and stored for further examination.
Laster I drew up large-scale maps, on which to plot the locations (numbered
stations) of the collections I would make during the year. We planned to produce
more accurate maps from compass traverses. The evening was spent sorting out
‘canteen’ stores – toothpaste, brushes, soap, sweets, cigarettes and tobacco, etc.,
which were supplied free to members of the base. Two Norwegians from the
station looked in. They were Egil Undrum and Johan Holte Larsen, who worked
in the office. We particularly liked Johan, who was to become a good friend and
attempted to teach us Norwegian during the coming winter; he was a blond
Viking about 6 ft 4 ins tall.
Arthur and I rowed to Hestesletten again the following day, getting drenched
while landing the boat. More seals were collected and three had unimplanted
blastocysts in the uterus, a particularly interesting find, ovoid, translucent and
about 2 cm long; the blastocyst is an early stage in embryonic development.
Before we worked on each post mortem examination, I cut the carotid arteries to
ensure that the animals were dead; unfortunately the heart of the last one was still
pumping and Arthur standing six feet away was drenched in blood. We cut off
some meat to take back for Ken Pierce-Butler's dog ‘Monkey’. In marked contrast
to this gory scene, Sugartop was clear of cloud, a pure white summit piercing the
blue sky. We had a perfect view of it, the whole seven thousand feet, rising from
Hestesletten at sea level, to the sharp fluted ridges leading to the summit. The
shadowed nearer ridges were dusky blue in the low sunshine, with the parts
picked out by the sun showing a mellow, golden brown. The other mountains
were clear of cloud only for odd moments. The sea sparkled with diamond points
of light and the vegetation along the shore was a brilliant emerald-green.
When not out in the field my usual day was to work in the laboratory, making
up various reagents and fixatives for the collecting, dealing with specimens and
preparing clean data sheets from the field sheets, which were often blood-stained,
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