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

Then the pup slid out in a rush at 4.43pm – no foetal membranes adhering to
it. It started yapping immediately, and the mother made a slight gargling sound.
She was apparently trying to make a sound with mouth open and larynx
vibrating, but no sound came, except a very short, cut-off yodel. She nuzzled the
pup, starting away at first as if in surprise when she touched it. At 4.45 the pup
was moving, its eyes wide-open. At 4.47 the cow moved her hindquarters and the
cord broke, evidently at a weak spot, noticeable as redder in colour than the rest.
The pup started looking for milk and the cow ‘bit’ it gently in the neck. I didn’t
stay more than 10 minutes after this, but the afterbirth had not appeared.
The totals for that day were: 84 large bulls, + 3 medium sized, 1047 cows, 552
pups. This included the cows killed by me, and 50 dead pups in area 8. Charlie and
Arthur came up on the radio at 8 o’clock, but there was little news.
A fine day followed, overcast at first, but later clearing to bright sunshine. I went
round the harems at 10 o’ clock, finding little had changed. Bull F in area 12
attempted to pair with several cows, but none were receptive. When the bull was
trying to pair the cows flipped shingle. A small bull invaded harem 8k, while the bull
was sleeping and attempted to mate with cows, but had no success. I watched a pup
suckling, searching for the nipple, making sucking noises as he explored the cow’s
side. He barked with frustration and his movements got more eager. I measured a
placenta that was 10” wide.
Total numbers were: 94 bulls; 1066 cows; 621 pups. There were 52 harems.
I returned at 4 o’clock and killed a dated cow in harem 6a and one in area 8. I
slipped on the ice while dodging a bull, and managed to cut myself rather badly;
falling down with the heavy collecting box on top of me I scrambled clear just in
time, when the 3 ton bull was about a foot away! I hurried back to camp where I tried
to stop the blood from the cut, which was rather deep. Charlie and Arthur came up
at 8 pm, but had no news. Arthur expected to get over by 10 o’clock next morning. It
was a fine morning with no wind. I saw the Pesca boat approaching at 9.20am and
they had no difficulty in landing opposite the camp. Arthur and I went to Area 8 and
there killed 8 cows, dated relative to parturition. Unfortunately the oldest dated cow
had gone, although her pup was still there. We then flensed 3 of the cows, which
were near the beach, in case Larsen would want the blubber. One of them was I think
the biggest cow I have ever seen; I also looked for and found what I thought was a
clitoris bone, a homologue of the penis bone found in the male elephant seal.
This work took us until about 2.30 pm and we had time to return to camp, pack
some essentials and transport them to the beach. The remainder of the camp was to
be evacuated on the next real calm day. Promptly at 3.30pm the Pesca boat appeared
and without much difficulty we loaded the equipment and specimens and left for
King Edward Point.
Return to King Edward Point.
I had been 25 days camping at Dartmouth Point, considered that I had achieved
all my objectives, and had set new boundaries in the rigour my scientific approach.
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