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

was a bitterly cold wind on deck. It looked as though we'd certainly stay more or less
where we were now because it was by now too late in the season to go East to the
Ross Sea. It was rough again with a very heavy swell so ‘Biscoe’ couldn't come
alongside and I had a little longer in which to write letters.
Ellefsen, the top gunner last year and 'King' gunner of the Antarctic (who was only
second in our expedition so far that season) is rather an obnoxious character as far as
I can make out - conceited and so on. He had a terrific rowing from Virik (the
Captain) that day which was the talk of the ship. Apparently he had accused the
officer of the watch on Balaena' of favouritism in sending the "buoy" boats to pick up
other gunners' whales before his. Virik tore him into little shreds at a time when the
rest of the fleet were listening in and Ellef was very chastened! Whaling is a fantastic
business. I wouldn't have missed the trip for worlds - it will always be an experience
to remember and so unusual and fabulous, yet horrible, that I thought that no one
would ever believe me.
On 16 January the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) season began. Once again
we were among dense pack-ice and some fantastically carved icebergs in the most
perfect egg-green (or blue) colours. It is impossible to do them justice in a
description. Standing on the poop deck that afternoon I saw my first blue whale
"spouting". There was a heavy sea running and crashing against the blue walls of an
iceberg, and just by the iceberg a flock of birds on the surface of the water. Suddenly
the whale blew and all the birds flew off. I don't know why it's called a blue whale
because it isn't really blue but a lovely slatey-grey with lighter patches. They really
are magnificent beasts and I'm extremely impressed by them - they beat all the other
species into a cocked hat. Six blue whales were caught that first day and I was on
deck throughout. For a change the weather was pleasant - occasional bursts of
sunshine and a temperature of 3°C., which felt quite warm. At the end of the shift I
was rather weary but fortunately up to date in the lab, so I decided to write letters
and then have a long soak in the bath next door. I trimmed my beard for the first
time.
The Commander was better now and doing his twelve hour shift again. Hugh
suggested that I should go to bed after doing a 24-hr shift for the week (!) but the
Inspectors’ duties are very simple. I'd say being an Inspector and nothing else was
the easiest job on the ship. For me an Inspector’s duties averaged perhaps two hours
a day and the rest of the time was free for my research. However, signing on as an
Inspector was the only way for a biologist to get a berth on the ship, because all the
space was required for the commercial operations. I was getting interesting results
from the detailed examinations of the ovaries, but it was too early to be at all definite
about anything yet.
A few days later, the Biscoe came alongside and pumped fuel oil over to us. She
went away for a few days - perhaps as long as a week - to clean her tanks and then
would be back to take whale oil from us. Probably after a few hours alongside she
would leave for the UK taking the mail with her so I had to get some letters written.
Two days earlier there had been another whale-less day and I managed to catch up
on the lab work. Mitch rushed in during the day to tell me there was a seal nearby in
the water, an unusual sighting as they are widely dispersed and underwater most of
the time. I dropped everything and dashed along the passage and stood in the icy
wind watching, but it didn't come up again. There were some penguins though. All
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