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

lock of rock. We erected the two tents on level snow and had lunch; then we set
about making the camp shipshape, setting up the aerial for the radio and so on.
As I hadn’t arranged for Andy to return until 4 pm to collect Arthur, we walked
along the shore and into Moraine Fjord, a considerable way. There were many bulls,
but few cows. A small rudimentary harem had formed and when we approached the
bull backed away. We returned to the tent and I brewed some coffee, which we just
managed to drink before Andy was back. He brought my 0.22 rifle, 4 tins of tobacco,
and a welcome letter from my PhD supervisor Sidney Smith in Cambridge. Another
mail delivery was due soon via Leith Harbour. When the others had gone I
continued sorted out my things – one tent was a ‘living room’, the other for
laboratory and generator - and then climbed the hill behind the camp. It was a lovely
evening, but a sealer was working the other shore of East Fjord and I heard shots.
Another sealer Albatros rounded Sappho Point and went in to Grytviken. From my
vantage point I had a fine view of Sugartop and the Three Brothers to the north west
and the Nordenskjold Glacier to the south with other peaks behind. Two giant
petrels were sitting on nests nearby; there were a few elephant seals on the beach
After a comfortable night, I walked along the shore to the south east, observing
and counting the seals. The coast here was rocky, with a boulder beach stretching all
the way. It was backed by a narrow strip of low lying land, with apparently two
beach levels (or moraines) and then steep slopes rising to 200 ft or more. The seals
tended to concentrate where there were wider strips of flat land and southwards the
flat area widened to about 200 yards at the Nordenskjold Glacier. I drew a rough
map of this stretch of coast and divided it into numbered areas, 1-12. The numbers of
seal would be recorded by area on a census sheet and positions recorded on a map.
After a break for lunch I continued westwards to complete the count.
The designated study areas on the point itself were naturally defined by distinct
terraces. The long boulder beach to the north, with cliffs behind it didn’t hold more
than an occasional seal and it was on the flat tussac-covered area near Dartmouth
Point that most of the seal had congregated. I was wearing skis, which helped in the
deep snow, and as I travelled [west] along the shore of Moraine Fjord, the seal
numbers tailing off. Then I came back to my camp. It was a lovely day, almost too
warm, but began to darken as the clouds formed. I had seen and heard a sealer
working the east shore of Cumberland Bay and now it passed by – Lille Carl towing a
pram dinghy. I decided to kill a cow on the beach near the tent, for my research
programme, but by the time I had the equipment ready she had returned to the sea.
Then I saw Stella approaching; she anchored off the camp and Charlie and Mac
rowed ashore bringing a small generator, some odds and ends and a bag of mail for
me. We had difficulty getting all this ashore as they had chosen a bad place to land.
They helped me to carry the generator to the top of the snow slope behind the beach
and we took the other equipment over to the camp. The others left immediately and I
sat down to read the mail – two parcels and several interesting letters. After supper
in the tent I listened to BBC radio for a couple of hours, before getting into my
sleeping bag. Atlee, the PM, was talking about the impending elections in the UK –
about time I thought!
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