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

Discovery Point and more extensive information from Hestesletten, which was the
closest.
Results of five counts at Maiviken from 24 September to 30 October, were
available. The only seal present on 24 September was one bull. Total numbers
increased from 1 to 207, pups from 2 to 182; harems from 3 to a peak of 6, then
declining to 4. The number of cows per harem initially 5.3 rose to 46.25; cows per bull
from 4.25 to 51.7.
For Discovery Point the results of 5 counts from 20 September to 31 October,
showed total numbers increasing from 2 to 429. The number of harems increased
from 1 to 10 and then fell to 9. Cows per harem increased from 2 to 47.6; cows per
bull increased from 0.66 to 26.6 then fell to 21.4.
For Hestesletten plus Discovery Point the results of 10 counts 20 September to 17
November, showed total numbers increasing to a maximum of 938 and then falling
to 192. Pups increased from 0 to 1023. The number of harems increased from 0 to 20
and then declined to 16. Number of cows per harem rose from 15.1 to peak at 46.2,
then fell to 12; cows per bull rose from 0.75 to a peak of 24, then declined to 4.8.
Arthur kindly made some of these counts, when I was away on sealing voyages.
We had another whaling transport, the Southern Opal, arrive at the end of
October bringing down many more people - twenty in all including three women
and three children. Arthur moved in with me to make more space. The six people
who comprised the South Georgia Survey, an independent expedition led by Duncan
Carse, interested me most, because their work was similar to what Derek and I had
been doing in the South Orkneys a few years previously. . When I showed them my
photos of the island it changed their plans rather, because they had not realised that
it was so difficult to travel over.
This was the first of a series of four expeditions between 1951/52 and 1956/57.
Carse had previously visited South Georgia on RRRS Discovery II in 1933 and was a
member of the British Grahamland Expedition, 1934-37. The Expedition was housed
in the gaol at KEP. Carse had a separate room and I spent a number of evenings there
with him drinking scotch and orange from large mugs. Carse had something of an
alcohol problem. He was older than the other members of his expedition and there
were differences between them which seemed serious at times. I think Carse found it
useful to have an outsider to talk with and unload his problems onto. I allowed
myself to be used in this way, in the general interest. Carse was a strange, sad
character, who had an obvious chip on his shoulder and had to exaggerate his own
achievements.
Most of the interior of South Georgia was little known and what little mapping
had been accomplished, primarily by the Kohl-Larsen Expedition (1928/29), was
well behind the coastal and hydrographic surveys. The first season’s work from
October 1951 to April 1952, was a limited programme of topographic survey and
familiarisation with the island, to help planning future seasons’ work. But they
covered a lot of ground and gained necessary experience.
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