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

provoke me, but I took a dislike to him and pointed out in response that in my view
scientists - including this one - knew much more about literature and the arts than
arts graduates did about science. Despite this rejoinder, I was promptly offered the
job, starting at the end of October, when I would have only a month or so to prepare
before departure. The job was "all-found", housing, food and clothing, and the salary
was £360 a year! This was equivalent to some £8,000 a year today. (Many years later
reading his Obituary in the Times I learnt more about Hoff.
Some background history
Until then I knew nothing about FIDS, in fact had never heard of the
organisation. As I recall I didn’t even know where the Falkland Islands were located;
if asked I might have said “Somewhere off the West Coast of Scotland”! So first let
me give some background.
The Discovery Investigations, 1925 – 1951, set up by the British Colonial Office in
1923, was the first Antarctic venture to conduct a coherent research programme in
the Antarctic, sustained over many years. The programme was undertaken because
of concerns about the overexploitation of the large whales and the future of the
whaling industry. The research – financed by a levy placed on the whaling industry
by the British Government - was centred on the biology of whales and their place in
the ecosystem, but it included work on other higher predators, particularly seals and
fish. This British research program also contributed much to knowledge of the
Southern Ocean, far in advance of its time. Thirteen extensive voyages by RRS
Discovery (Scott’s old ship) and other vessels between 1925 and 1939 set new
standards in Oceanographic research, and demonstrated the main currents and water
masses in the region. A marine biologist Stanley Kemp was the first Director; (his
daughter Belinda, a Zoologist was a contemporary of mine at Cambridge). A marine
biological laboratory, within Discovery House was opened at Grytviken in 1925 and
work began there under Dr N A Mackintosh, continuing during each whaling season
until 1931. It provided the first modern understanding of the Antarctic plankton,
marine mammals, birds, fish and other consumers of krill. It was a hugely important
precursor of modern research on large whales and their environment. Among other
successes it instituted a tagging program that provided the best evidence for the
long-range migrations of the large rorquals, until modern electronic/satellite tags
were employed recently. Many thousands of biological specimens were amassed in
the Discovery Collections, based in the British Museum (Natural History) and the
results of their study published in an impressive series of monographs, the Discovery
Reports. In many ways these collections, databases and publications are still
unsurpassed. After 1951 it was incorporated in the newly formed British National
Institute of Oceanography (NIO).
The British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE), 1934 -1937 was a small privately
organised venture in an old French fishing schooner, re-named the Penola, captained
by R E D Ryder. It further developed methods of polar travel and discovery
originated in the Arctic by small private student expeditions led by Gino Watkins,
which were very cost-effective. BGLE was also privately organised and led by John
Rymill, supported to the tune of £10,000 each by the Royal Geographical Society and
the Colonial Office. Its members were unpaid and the scientists served as Penola ’s
crew. Wintering bases were established off the Antarctic Peninsula on the Argentine
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