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

them a most interesting monster – Siamese twins of an elephant seal, of which more
later. We had coffee over at the camp. The Skuseths were in good form and so was
Larsen. Apparently Ken Butler suggested he should use the blubber from the cows I
kill and he is willing to come over on the 9 th and 12 th , when I planned to kill a bunch
of date-marked females.
Arthur told me that Ken Butler refused him the use of the boat, even on days like
yesterday, when it was flat calm, with neither a breath of wind nor a cloud in the sky.
I asked Arthur to tell him that I took a dim view of this decision and that it was going
to mess up the seal work. It had been pleasant seeing the visitors but they soon had
to leave. I saw them off at 4 o’clock and went to harem 6a to kill two cows, but I
couldn’t get at them because of the bull, so returned to camp.
Charlie was to have a schedule with me at 8 o’clock on 4165 k/cs, one way, and I
was to flash a light if I heard him. This went off quite well and I heard him loud and
clear. Arthur came on the air and said I would be getting some petrol earlier than I
expected. So it looked as though he had had some success in negotiations about the
use of the boats. I read until 9 o’clock and then turned in. At 5.30 am I was woken by
the sound of Arthur’s skis and then “wakey wakey!” He had rowed across before he
went on duty to deliver some petrol and report on events at the Point, but couldn’t
stay because he had to get back by 7.30 am. for the Met Ob. I appreciated his great
support.
I sallied forth, starting at beach 14, in order to pick up a battery and some petrol
that Arthur had left on the beach. In area 12 bull F had only 24 cows and 8 pups –
spread along the beach. Bull M had 41 cows and 19 pups in the tussac. In area 11
there was a harem of 11 cows on the beach with white-nose (bull S).
Area 8 had changed somewhat: at the south end of the tussock were 21 cows and
11 pups and bull C on the beach had a group of 22 cows and 8 pups. Then there was
a band with just a few scattered seals, then 28 cows and 14 pups, followed by a huge
concentration of 80 cows and 32 pups. Harem 8f had 12 cows; 8g had dissolved; 8a, a
new group, had 10 cows and 3 pups. Harem 8d along the beach in area 9 now, had 71
cows and 11 pups; 8c was small, with only 6 cows and 1 pup.
In area 7 was a harem of 10 cows and 1 pup. On beach 6 bull E had 7 newly
hauled out cows. Bull A at 6a had 58 cows and 20 pups; 6b had 20 cows and 4 pups. I
date-marked the mother of the latest pup, red-back.
There were two harems in area 2; north of the rock were 11 cows and 1 pup;
south of it also 11 cows and 1 pup. Then some scattered cows, the mother of one new
pup I date-marked.
Harem 1e numbered 11 cows and 2 pups. A cow that had pupped that morning
was making flipping movements, although there was no snow or gravel to flip.
Harem 1f was very small, with only 5 cows and 2 pups, and no bull present. Most of
the cows had moved down the beach to 1g, which contained 9 cows and 2 pups. The
coes in 1h had split off from 1a, the result of a similar movement down the beach; it
now had 24 cows and 9 pups, including some of the original marked cows of 1a.
Harem 1a itself now had 83 cows and 30 pups. 18 of those cows might have been
considered a subsidiary group, but the bull with them was subordinate to bull J.
381