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

A few days later I was due to go out for a trip on a catcher, but missed the
opportunity. So the captain of Setter 8 had promised to let me know next time he
came in for bunkering, but he forgot, so the first I knew was seeing her leaving - and
I had to wait another week. The weather was very bad, with dense snowstorms and
wind and rather cold on deck. I think everyone was beginning to get very tired now
that the season was drawing near to its close.
I had been pretty busy for several days, and on 24 February I fell asleep where I
was sitting after lunch and slept for nearly two hours. Fortunately no whales were
being worked up then. It was a glorious day, cold with a slight breeze but bright sun
and the Antarctic continent still in sight showing lovely ice-clad peaks. The land was
only about 30 miles away and that night there was a half moon to port and a very
colourful sky, salmon-pink near the horizon and then shading off into yellow, green
and blue - with a few dense black clouds. We got mirage effects down there in still,
cold weather caused by a layer of heavier cold air (instead of the hot layers found in
deserts) so that the land that night appeared to be floating! Icebergs miles away
looked tall and thin - like skyscrapers. The fleet was scattered on the ocean around
us, showing lots of twinkling lights and the moon drew a track upon the sea.
26 February was another lovely day and I decided to go over to the Bransfield, the
refrigerator ship, to help Hugh with some experiments he was carrying out on
preserving meat in formic acid, plus gelatin, and trying the effect of coating it with
chlorophyll before and after freezing. We left about 9.l5 am. First we had to get
ourselves and our gear onto Kai the small vessel that ferried the meat across from
Balaena to Bransfield. This was done by climbing into a basket, and being lowered
from the stern of Balaena onto Kai, while both ships moved about with the heavy
swell. It was an interesting experience.
On Bransfield, after a rough crossing, we carried out the first part of the
experiments. I was due to go back in Kai when she returned two hours later, but
decided to stay on Bransfield for lunch. A storm came up pretty quickly and it became
too rough to transfer from ship to ship so we carried on with the work. By tea time it
seemed obvious that we would be unable to return that night and we were given a
cabin and a bottle of Haigs Gold Label whisky with which to console ourselves. After
dinner there was a film (Lady Godiva again!) and then I turned in as I was - no
pajamas or anything - not even the usual toothbrush. However at 0.30 am we were
woken because the sea had settled very quickly - actually we'd steamed into better
weather - and Kai was alongside again. We had a long and very cold trip back on the
bridge of Kai - at first in bright moonlight and then a lovely sunset-dawn which we
watched changing until it was almost full daylight by the time we got back to
Balaena. After being away all day it was quite a shock to see all the steam and smoke
and smell the shocking stinks coming from her. Living on board we had become so
used to it that we no longer noticed these things. My nose took some time to settle
down again! Still it was a change. Also I got some photos of Balaena from the sea
which turned out quite well.
On 1 March I worked on deck most of the day. Powell was bunkering us, that is
delivering fuel oil, but the weather deteriorated and she had to break off at 7 o’clock
in the evening. I worked in the lab until Hugh came along with the news that Setter 9
was bunkering. The Commander agreed to request the gunner, Hem, to take me out
and at about 10 o’clock. I went over in a sling to Setter 9. That's a sort of breeches
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