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

In area 6 several cows had hauled out west of harem 6a, 12 in fact. Bull A now
had 53 cows and 16 pups. 6b had 18 cows and 1 pup.
In area 1 harem 1e, which was reduced to 1 bull and 1 cow yesterday, now
included 9 cows and 1 pup. Harem 1d had 34 cows and 4 pups, one dead, crushed by
the bull. A new harem, which might have split off from 1a, was 1g, with 7 cows; it
was just south of 1e and at the water’s edge. 1a was now in two parts: 63 cows and 18
pups lay at the water’s edge, and 38 cows and 12 pups mainly on the snow above.
Some cows were actually lying in the water at the edge of the beach, because of the
heat. The others were flipping snow or gravel onto their backs, and others (those on
the smooth boulders of the beach) were going through the motions of ‘flipping’. It
was very hot in the sun, the pups were irritable and the cows moaning more than
usual. I saw no gravel- or snow-flipping before 10.15 am and this behaviour probably
developed as the sun rose higher and warmed them up. It also appeared to be a
reflex action when irritated. A day-old pup in harem 6b was flipping although lying
on a boulder beach with nothing but air to flip!
The totals for areas 1-14 were: 79 bulls, 570 cows (+3 dead), 125 pups (+7 dead),
altogether 784.
The east shore of East Cumberland Bay had several large isolated harems, south
of area 1. The two largest had 1 bull, 65 cows and 17 pups; and 1 bull, 53 cows and 21
pups. The next largest, under the moraine of the Nordenskjold Glacier, had 19 cows
and 5 pups. Altogether in this area there were 32 bulls, 211 cows and 51 pups, a total
of 294.
In Moraine Fjord the numbers were much less. The largest harem had 34 cows
and 8 pups, the second largest only 15 cows and 5 pups. Where ice blocks were
grounded along the shore there were no seals ashore. I saw one bull, which had been
eating gravel.
Totals for this area were: 42 bulls, 120 cows and 19 pups, altogether 181. It was
odd that the ratio of cows to bulls should differ so greatly from adjacent East
Cumberland Bay.
During the counts I made some other observations. ‘A pup looking for the teat
explores with the muzzle, and sucks at the cow’s belly with loud noises at intervals,
but doesn’t find the teat. It seems to be purely trial and error, and the mother didn’t
help. Perhaps when she felt a milk pressure building up she would encourage the
pup. Pups have very extended necks when looking for a teat.’
One cow, which had given birth since I first passed by, had a bloody mouth. She
had been snow-flipping, although the sun was not then very warm. I noticed that
most of the cows in area 1, formerly at the water’s edge had moved up the beach
again. I removed my shirt early in the day, in order to make the most of the sunshine,
and was quite sunburnt by the evening. It was a glorious day, with not a cloud and
hardly a breath of wind. Returning to camp at 5 o’clock I killed and examined a
newly hauled out cow, and was in camp at 6 o’clock as the sun was going down.
Baked beans and corned beef for supper. An amusing programme “How to
broadcast” with Stephen Potter and Joyce Grenfell, was on the radio.
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