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

Molde and had lunch at the hotel. The trip to Hollingsholm took about half an
hour and my transport, a small 70 ft. fishing boat with a tonk-tonk (diesel) engine,
came alongside as a ferry left.
Due west lay Steinshamn on the island of Haroy and it was quite a rough trip
as we headed into the waves, taking about two hours and passing several other
islands on the way. The whaling station was quite deserted - no whales, the 3
catchers were in harbour because of the rough weather - and not even a smell! I
was given a room to myself looking out over the harbour and others came in to
see me; Peter Purves had arrived the night before. We talked and drank whisky
until midnight when it was still broad daylight; I had difficulty in sleeping
because it was so light. The only others I met initially were Danielsen, the
Inspector, Heiste, the sales manager and Asrumn Saebjornsen, the attractive
daughter of the owner. Our gear had not arrived and was not likely to reach us
until Wednesday, 29 June! But it looked as though there would be no whales for
several days at least, because of a series of gales.
The island of Haroy is about 7-8 miles long, 3-4 miles broad at the widest part,
with a hill at the south end, otherwise low-lying, mostly peat bogs, with a
scattering of brightly painted fishermen's and whalers' houses. There were three
shops and a post office serving about 1,700 inhabitants. Breakfast was served at 9.0
am. and I went out for a walk through the village. The whaling station was on the
extreme NW tip of the island - a series of factory buildings and storage tanks -
quite a pleasant little harbour with lots of small boats and a long breakwater. That
afternoon it was fine and sunny and Purves and I walked round the coast to a
disused radar post, erected by the Germans during the war. There were numerous
gulls and various ducks, terns, oyster catchers etc. round the coast and the water
was very clear, but too cold for bathing. The wind began to blow before we got
back and a strong gale was raging most of the night, so strong that it blew rain in
through the cracks round the shut windows and wet a lot of my papers. Lunch
was at 12.0, coffee at 5.0 and dinner at 8.0, the landmarks of most days when we
had plenty of time to fill in when there were no whales to examine.
The birds on the island were interesting. There were many different species
and they were amusing to watch - especially the eider ducks and oyster catchers.
We took several more walks but it was very wet when one left the road. The views
over to the snow-capped hills of the mainland were superb.
For religious reasons whaling stopped on Saturday and started again at
Sunday midnight, so late on Sunday 26 June I joined one of the catchers - the Berg
Karl. - for a trip expected to last until Tuesday or until we caught a whale. We cast
off and began to move away from the jetty at 1 am in the perpetual sunset, the sea
mirror-calm. I stood on deck until we were clear of the islands - hundreds of them
silhouetted black against the purple red and gold sea, reflecting the sunset and
colourful cloud masses above. Then I turned in to sleep at 2.0 am. - my bed a
settee in the gunners day cabin, only l'6" wide. I had a fitful sleep until the gunner
came in at 7.30 am and said it was time for breakfast. The day was fine with a
fresh breeze and I spent a few hours on the bridge. One of the boats - the Berg
Andreas had taken a fin whale, but neither the Berg Bjorn nor mine the Berg Karl
had even seen a whale yet. So I would have been at Steinshamn for at least 6 days
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