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

latest news from King Edward Point: of the ‘beaching’ of “Stella” by the Magistrate,
and a ‘rebellion’ by the small community on the Point against him. It gave rise to a
scurrilous cartoon, graffiti on Discovery House, the barricading of Bill Bonner’s
house. It was all rather childish, but diverting! Arthur had endeavoured to cool
matters down and by the time I got back the anger had subsided, but I believe its
origins were in Ken Butler’s high-handed ways. We installed a new lighting circuit,
supplied by Charlie and with very little trouble soon had the genny going again.
After lunch outside where, although windy, it was warm and sunny, we set out to
cover beaches 1-6.
In area 6 there were 3 harems, the largest containing 12 cows and 1 pup with bull
A; I date-marked the new mother [Yellow-nose]. Very few seals were on beaches 2-5,
but in area 1 was a large harem of 58 cows, 9 pups and 2 bulls, one of which was
Scarred-left-fore-flipper. There were 3 new pups and I painted the mothers [Yellownose]
with some difficulty (also the cow which I omitted to paint yesterday, giving
her 3 distinct yellow spots).
When we returned to camp there was no sign of ‘Stella’ so we had tea and
walked over to the dinghy, talking over plans. The wind was high so Arthur decided
to row across Moraine Fjord, beach the dinghy, and continue on ski to KEP. I
watched him rowing across, making a slow passage, and when he was halfway
across returned to camp. On the way I spent some time watching activities in harem
8b where 3 cows had pupped since noon, based on the presence of afterbirths. A total
of 64 bulls, 252 cows and 31 pups meant 42 new cows had hauled out since the
previous day’s count and only 2 bulls.
Next day, 28 September, it was very calm with heavy snowfall when I woke and
I thought I had heard rain during the night. When I looked outside it was very
unpleasant, and I went back to the sleeping bag for another hour. When I looked out
again it still hadn’t moderated, but I got up, and did the round after breakfast. In area
1, Bull J was still in charge of harem 1a. He now had 49 cows, possibly 55 if another
bull, with still-bleeding wounds could be discounted, and 12 pups. The other bull lay
on the outskirts with 6 cows near him, over 20 yards from the first. I date-marked the
three new mothers yellow-tail. Harem 1c had a bull and 7 cows, and 1d had a bull and
9 cows. There had been an influx in area 2, probably from area 1, where bulls had
been fighting. In area 6 there were 3 harems: 6a with bull A in charge of 15 cows and
2 pups (additional new cow also painted yellow-tail); 6b with only 2 cows; and 6c
with 5 cows. One bull and one cow were hauled out on the north beach and later two
more large/medium bulls hauled out there. In area 7 cows and bulls are scattered.
Bull H now had 85 cows with 18 pups and 6 bachelor bulls on the outskirts. The
latter fought each other and one chased another into the dominant bull’s territory.
This was 50 yards from H, but he reared up and roared which caused the others to
flee. It left no doubt that H controlled the whole group of 85 cows. I date-marked
each of the 5 cows with recent pups (yellow-tail). Harem 8c contained only 4 cows,
rather scattered, 8d had broken up and 8e bull now had 22 cows and 1 pup. Bull P
[yellow-right-fore-flipper-&-nose] was in area 8, on the beach with a cow.
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