THE FINAL PHASE
The foregoing chapters of this book represent the general narrative of
our Expedition. That we failed in accomplishing the object we set out
for was due, I venture to assert, not to any neglect or lack of
organization, but to the overwhelming natural obstacles, especially the
unprecedentedly severe summer conditions on the Weddell Sea side. But
though the Expedition was a failure in one respect, I think it was
successful in many others. A large amount of important scientific work
was carried out. The meteorological observations in particular have an
economic bearing. The hydrographical work in the Weddell Sea has done
much to clear up the mystery of this, the least known of all the seas.
I have appended a short scientific memorandum to this volume, but the
more detailed scientific results must wait until a more suitable time
arrives, when more stable conditions prevail. Then results will be
worked out.
To the credit side of the Expedition one can safely say that the
comradeship and resource of the members of the Expedition was worthy of
the highest traditions of Polar service; and it was a privilege to me
to have had under my command men who, through dark days and the stress
and strain of continuous danger, kept up their spirits and carried out
their work regardless of themselves and heedless of the limelight. The
same energy and endurance that they showed in the Antarctic they
brought to the greater war in the Old World. And having followed our
fortunes in the South you may be interested to know that practically
every member of the Expedition was employed in one or other branches of
the active fighting forces during the war. Several are still abroad,
and for this very reason it has been impossible for me to obtain
certain details for this book.
[Illustration: 5. Close Pack]
[Illustration: 6. Open Pack]
Of the fifty-three men who returned out of the fifty-six who left for
the South, three have since been killed and five wounded. Four
decorations have been won, and several members of the Expedition have
been mentioned in dispatches. McCarthy, the best and most efficient of
the sailors, always cheerful under the most trying circumstances, and
who for these very reasons I chose to accompany me on the boat journey
to South Georgia, was killed at his gun in the Channel. Cheetham, the
veteran of the Antarctic, who had been more often south of the
Antarctic circle than any man, was drowned when the vessel he was
serving in was torpedoed, a few weeks before the Armistice. Ernest
Wild, Frank Wild’s brother, was killed while minesweeping in the
Mediterranean. Mauger, the carpenter on the _Aurora_, was badly wounded
while serving with the New Zealand Infantry, so that he is unable to
follow his trade again. He is now employed by the New Zealand
Government. The two surgeons, Macklin and McIlroy, served in France and
Italy, McIlroy being badly wounded at Ypres. Frank Wild, in view of his
unique experience of ice and ice conditions, was at once sent to the
North Russian front, where his zeal and ability won him the highest
praise.
Macklin served first with the Yorks and later transferred as medical
officer to the Tanks, where he did much good work. Going to the Italian
front with his battalion, he won the Military Cross for bravery in
tending wounded under fire.
James joined the Royal Engineers, Sound Ranging Section, and after much
front-line work was given charge of a Sound Ranging School to teach
other officers this latest and most scientific addition to the art of
war.
Wordie went to France with the Royal Field Artillery and was badly
wounded at Armentières.
Hussey was in France for eighteen months with the Royal Garrison
Artillery, serving in every big battle from Dixmude to Saint-Quentin.
Worsley, known to his intimates as Depth-Charge Bill, owing to his
success with that particular method of destroying German submarines,
has the Distinguished Service Order and three submarines to his credit.
Stenhouse, who commanded the _Aurora_ after Mackintosh landed, was with
Worsley as his second in command when one of the German submarines was
rammed and sunk, and received the D.S.C. for his share in the fight. He
was afterwards given command of a Mystery Ship, and fought several
actions with enemy submarines.
Clark served on a mine-sweeper. Greenstreet was employed with the
barges on the Tigris. Rickenson was commissioned as
Engineer-Lieutenant, R.N. Kerr returned to the Merchant Service as an
engineer.
Most of the crew of the _Endurance_ served on minesweepers.
Of the Ross Sea Party, Mackintosh, Hayward, and Spencer-Smith died for
their country as surely as any who gave up their lives on the fields of
France and Flanders. Hooke, the wireless operator, now navigates an
airship.
Nearly all of the crew of the _Aurora_ joined the New Zealand Field
Forces and saw active service in one or other of the many theatres of
war. Several have been wounded, but it has been impossible to obtain
details.
On my return, after the rescue of the survivors of the Ross Sea Party,
I offered my services to the Government, and was sent on a mission to
South America. When this was concluded I was commissioned as Major and
went to North Russia in charge of Arctic Equipment and Transport,
having with me Worsley, Stenhouse, Hussey, Macklin, and Brocklehurst,
who was to have come South with us, but who, as a regular officer,
rejoined his unit on the outbreak of war. He has been wounded three
times and was in the retreat from Mons. Worsley was sent across to the
Archangel front, where he did excellent work, and the others served
with me on the Murmansk front. The mobile columns there had exactly the
same clothing, equipment, and sledging food as we had on the
Expedition. No expense was spared to obtain the best of everything for
them, and as a result not a single case of avoidable frost-bite was
reported.
[Illustration: 7. Very Open Pack, approximating to Drift-ice]
[Illustration: 8. Drift-Ice]
Taking the Expedition as a unit, out of fifty-six men three died in the
Antarctic, three were killed in action, and five have been wounded, so
that our casualties have been fairly high.
Though some have gone there are enough left to rally round and form a
nucleus for the next Expedition, when troublous times are over and
scientific exploration can once more be legitimately undertaken.
APPENDIX I
SCIENTIFIC WORK
By J. M. WORDIE, M.A. (Cantab.), Lieut. R.F.A.
The research undertaken by the Expedition was originally planned for a
shore party working from a fixed base on land, but it was only in South
Georgia that this condition of affairs was fully realized. On this
island, where a full month was spent, the geologist made very extensive
collections, and began the mapping of the country; the magnetician had
some of his instruments in working order for a short while; and the
meteorologist was able to co-operate with the Argentine observer
stationed at Grytviken. It had been realized how important the
meteorological observations were going to be to the Argentine
Government, and they accordingly did all in their power to help, both
before and at the end of the Expedition. The biologist devoted most of
his time, meanwhile, to the whaling industry, there being no less than
seven stations on the island; he also made collections of the neritic
fauna, and, accompanied by the photographer, studied the bird life and
the habits of the sea-elephants along the east coast.
By the time the actual southern voyage commenced, each individual had
his own particular line of work which he was prepared to follow out.
The biologist at first confined himself to collecting the _plankton_,
and a start was made in securing water samples for temperature and
salinity. In this, from the beginning, he had the help of the
geologist, who also gave instructions for the taking of a line of
soundings under the charge of the ship’s officers. This period of the
southward voyage was a very busy time so far as the scientists were
concerned, for, besides their own particular work, they took the full
share of looking after the dogs and working the ship watch by watch. At
the same time, moreover, the biologist had to try and avoid being too
lavish with his preserving material at the expense of the shore station
collections which were yet to make.
When it was finally known that the ship had no longer any chance of
getting free of the ice in the 1914–1915 season, a radical change was
made in the arrangements. The scientists were freed, as far as
possible, from ship’s duties, and were thus able to devote themselves
almost entirely to their own particular spheres. The meteorological
investigations took on a more definite shape; the instruments intended
for the land base were set up on board ship, including self-recording
barographs, thermometers, and a Dines anemometer, with which very
satisfactory results were got. The physicist set up his quadrant
electrometer after a good deal of trouble, but throughout the winter
had to struggle constantly with rime forming on the parts of his
apparatus exposed to the outer air. Good runs were being thus
continually spoilt. The determination of the magnetic constants also
took up a good part of his time.
Besides collecting _plankton_ the biologist was now able to put down
one or other of his dredges at more frequent intervals, always taking
care, however, not to exhaust his store of preserving material, which
was limited. The taking of water samples was established on a better
system, so that the series should be about equally spaced out over the
ship’s course. The geologist suppressed all thought of rocks, though
occasionally they were met with in bottom samples; his work became
almost entirely oceanographical, and included a study of the sea-ice,
of the physiography of the sea floor as shown by daily soundings, and
of the bottom deposits; besides this he helped the biologist in the
temperature and salinity observations.
The work undertaken and accomplished by each member was as wide as
possible; but it was only in keeping with the spirit of the times that
more attention should be paid to work from which practical and economic
results were likely to accrue. The meteorologist had always in view the
effect of Antarctic climate on the other southern continents, the
geologist looked on ice from a seaman’s point of view, and the
biologist not unwillingly put whales in the forefront of his programme.
The accounts which follow on these very practical points show how
closely scientific work in the Antarctica is in touch with, and helps
on the economic development of, the inhabited lands to the north.
SEA-ICE NOMENCLATURE
By J. M. WORDIE, M.A. (Cantab.), Lieut. R.F.A.
During the voyage of the _Endurance_ it was soon noticed that the terms
being used to describe different forms of ice were not always in
agreement with those given in Markham’s and Mill’s glossary in “The
Antarctic Manual,” 1901. It was the custom, of course, to follow
implicitly the terminology used by those of the party whose experience
of ice dated back to Captain Scott’s first voyage, so that the terms
used may be said to be common to all Antarctic voyages of the present
century. The principal changes, therefore, in nomenclature must date
from the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when there was no one
to pass on the traditional usage from the last naval Arctic Expedition
in 1875 to the _Discovery_ Expedition of 1901. On the latter ship
Markham’s and Mill’s glossary was, of course, used, but apparently not
slavishly; founded, as far as sea-ice went, on Scoresby’s, made in
1820, it might well have been adopted in its entirety, for no writer
could have carried more weight than Scoresby the younger, combining as
he did more than ten years’ whaling experience with high scientific
attainments. Above all others he could be accepted both by practical
seamen and also by students of ice forms.
That the old terms of Scoresby did not all survive the period of
indifference to Polar work, in spite of Markham and Mill, is an
indication either that their usefulness has ceased or that the original
usage has changed once and for all. A restatement of terms is therefore
now necessary. Where possible the actual phrases of Scoresby and of his
successors, Markham and Mill, are still used. The principle adopted,
however, is to give preference to the words actually used by the Polar
seamen themselves.
The following authorities have been followed as closely as possible:
W. Scoresby, Jun., “An Account of the Arctic Regions,” 1820, vol. i,
pp. 225–233, 238–241.
C. R. Markham and H. R. Mill in “The Antarctic Manual,” 1901, pp,
xiv–xvi.
J. Payer, “New Lands within the Arctic Circle,” 1876, vol. i, pp. 3–14.
W. S. Bruce, “Polar Exploration” in Home University Library, c. 1911,
pp. 54–71.
Reference should also be made to the annual publication of the Danish
Meteorological Institute showing the Arctic ice conditions of the
previous summer. This is published in both Danish and English, so that
the terms used there are bound to have a very wide acceptance; it is
hoped, therefore, that they may be the means of preventing the
Antarctic terminology following a different line of evolution; for but
seldom is a seaman found nowadays who knows both Polar regions. On the
Danish charts six different kinds of sea-ice are marked—namely,
unbroken polar ice; land-floe; great ice-fields; tight pack-ice; open
ice; bay-ice and brash. With the exception of bay-ice, which is more
generally known as young ice, all these terms pass current in the
Antarctic.
_Slush_ or _Sludge_. The initial stages in the freezing of sea-water,
when its consistency becomes gluey or soupy. The term is also used (but
not commonly) for brash-ice still further broken down.
_Pancake-ice_. Small circular floes with raised rims; due to the
break-up in a gently ruffled sea of the newly formed ice into pieces
which strike against each other, and so form turned-up edges.
_Young Ice_. Applied to all unhummocked ice up to about a foot in
thickness. Owing to the fibrous or platy structure, the floes crack
easily, and where the ice is not over thick a ship under steam cuts a
passage without much difficulty. Young ice may originate from the
coalescence of “pancakes,” where the water is slightly ruffled or else
be a sheet of “black ice,” covered maybe with “ice-flowers,” formed by
the freezing of a smooth sheet of sea-water.
In the Arctic it has been the custom to call this form of ice
“bay-ice”; in the Antarctic, however, the latter term is wrongly used
for land-floes (fast-ice, etc.), and has been so misapplied
consistently for fifteen years. The term bay-ice should possibly,
therefore, be dropped altogether, especially since, even in the Arctic,
its meaning is not altogether a rigid one, as it may denote firstly the
gluey “slush,” which forms when sea-water freezes, and secondly the
firm level sheet ultimately produced.
_Land floes_. Heavy but not necessarily hummocked ice, with generally a
deep snow covering, which has remained held up in the position of
growth by the enclosing nature of some feature of the coast, or by
grounded bergs throughout the summer season when most of the ice breaks
out. Its thickness is, therefore, above the average. Has been called at
various times “fast-ice,” “coast-ice,” “land-ice,” “bay-ice” by
Shackleton and David and the Charcot Expedition; and possibly what
Drygalski calls _Schelfeis_ is not very different.
_Floe_. An area of ice, level or hummocked, whose limits are within
sight. Includes all sizes between brash on the one hand and fields on
the other. “Light-floes” are between one and two feet in thickness
(anything thinner being “young-ice”). Those exceeding two feet in
thickness are termed “heavy floes,” being generally hummocked, and in
the Antarctic, at any rate, covered by fairly deep snow.
_Field_. A sheet of ice of such extent that its limits cannot be seen
from the masthead.
_Hummocking_. Includes all the processes of pressure formation whereby
level young ice becomes broken up and built up into
_Hummocky Floes_. The most suitable term for what has also been called
“old pack” and “screwed pack” by David and _Scholleneis_ by German
writers. In contrast to young ice, the structure is no longer fibrous,
but becomes spotted or bubbly, a certain percentage of salt drains
away, and the ice becomes almost translucent.
_The Pack_ is a term very often used in a wide sense to include any
area of sea-ice, no matter what form it takes or how disposed. The
French term is _banquise de derive_.
_Pack-ice_. A more restricted use than the above, to include hummocky
floes or close areas of young ice and light floes. Pack-ice is “close”
or “tight” if the floes constituting it are in contact; “open” if, for
the most part, they do not touch. In both cases it hinders, but does
not necessarily check, navigation; the contrary holds for
_Drift-ice_. Loose open ice, where the area of water exceeds that of
ice. Generally drift-ice is within reach of the swell, and is a stage
in the breaking down of pack-ice, the size of the floes being much
smaller than in the latter. (Scoresby’s use of the term drift-ice for
pieces of ice intermediate in size between floes and brash has,
however, quite died out). The Antarctic or Arctic pack usually has a
girdle or fringe of drift-ice.
_Brash_. Small fragments and roundish nodules; the wreck of other kinds
of ice.
_Bergy Bits_. Pieces, about the size of a cottage, of glacier-ice or of
hummocky pack washed clear of snow.
_Growlers_. Still smaller pieces of sea-ice than the above, greenish in
colour, and barely showing above water-level.
_Crack_. Any sort of fracture or rift in the sea-ice covering.
_Lead_ or _Lane_. Where a crack opens out to such a width as to be
navigable. In the Antarctic it is customary to speak of these as leads,
even when frozen over to constitute areas of young ice.
_Pools_. Any enclosed water areas in the pack, where length and breadth
are about equal.
METEOROLOGY
By L. D. A. HUSSEY, B.Sc., (Lond.), Capt. R.G.A.
The meteorological results of the Expedition, when properly worked out
and correlated with those from other stations in the southern
hemisphere, will be extremely valuable, both for their bearing on the
science of meteorology in general, and for their practical and economic
applications.
South America is, perhaps, more intimately concerned than any other
country, but Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are all affected
by the weather conditions of the Antarctic. Researches are now being
carried on which tend to show that the meteorology of the two
hemispheres is more interdependent than was hitherto believed, so that
a meteorological disturbance in one part of the world makes its
presence felt, more or less remotely perhaps, all over the world.
It is evident, therefore, that a complete knowledge of the weather
conditions in any part of the world, which it is understood carries
with it the ability to make correct forecasts, can never be obtained
unless the weather conditions in every other part are known. This makes
the need for purely scientific Polar Expeditions so imperative, since
our present knowledge of Arctic and Antarctic meteorology is very
meagre, and to a certain extent unsystematic. What is wanted is a chain
of observing stations well equipped with instruments and trained
observers stretching across the Antarctic Continent. A series of
exploring ships could supplement these observations with others made by
them while cruising in the Antarctic Seas. It would pay to do this,
even for the benefit accruing to farmers, sailors, and others who are
so dependent on the weather.
As an instance of the value of a knowledge of Antarctic weather
conditions, it may be mentioned that, as the result of observations and
researches carried out at the South Orkneys—a group of sub-Antarctic
islands at the entrance to the Weddell Sea—it has been found that a
cold winter in that sea is a sure precursor of a drought over the maize
and cereal bearing area of Argentina three and a half years later. To
the farmers, the value of this knowledge so far in advance is enormous,
and since England has some three hundred million pounds sterling
invested in Argentine interests, Antarctic Expeditions have proved, and
will prove, their worth even from a purely commercial point of view.
I have given just this one instance to satisfy those who question the
utility of Polar Expeditions, but many more could be cited.
As soon as it was apparent that no landing could be made, and that we
should have to spend a winter in the ship drifting round with the pack,
instruments were set up and observations taken just as if we had been
ashore.
A meteorological screen or box was erected on a platform over the
stern, right away from the living quarters, and in it were placed the
maximum and minimum thermometers, the recording barograph, and
thermograph—an instrument which writes every variation of the
temperature and pressure on a sheet of paper on a revolving drum—and
the standard thermometer, a very carefully manufactured thermometer,
with all its errors determined and tabulated. The other thermometers
were all checked from this one. On top of the screen a Robinson’s
anemometer was screwed. This consisted of an upright rod, to the top of
which were pivoted four arms free to revolve in a plane at right angles
to it. At the end of these arms hemispherical cups were screwed. These
were caught by the wind and the arms revolved at a speed varying with
the force of the wind. The speed of the wind could be read off on a
dial below the arms.
In addition there was an instrument called a Dines anemometer which
supplied interesting tracings of the force, duration, and direction of
the wind. There was an added advantage in the fact that the drum on
which these results were recorded was comfortably housed down below, so
that one could sit in a comparatively warm room and follow all the
varying phases of the blizzard which was raging without. The barometer
used was of the Kew Standard pattern. When the ship was crushed, all
the monthly records were saved, but the detailed tracings, which had
been packed up in the hold, were lost. Though interesting they were not
really essential. Continuous observations were made during the long
drift on the floe and while on Elephant Island the temperature was
taken at midday each day as long as the thermometers lasted. The
mortality amongst these instruments, especially those which were tied
to string and swung round, was very high.
A few extracts from the observations taken during 1915—the series for
that year being practically complete—may be of interest. January was
dull and overcast, only 7 per cent. of the observations recording a
clear blue sky, 71 per cent. being completely overcast.
The percentage of clear sky increased steadily up till June and July,
these months showing respectively 42 per cent. and 45.7 per cent. In
August 40 per cent. of the observations were clear sky, while September
showed a sudden drop to 27 per cent. October weather was much the same,
and November was practically overcast the whole time, clear sky showing
at only 8 per cent. of the observations. In December the sky was
completely overcast for nearly 90 per cent. of the time.
Temperatures on the whole were fairly high, though a sudden unexpected
drop in February, after a series of heavy north-easterly gales, caused
the ship to be frozen in, and effectually put an end to any hopes of
landing that year. The lowest temperature experienced was in July, when
–35° Fahr., _i.e._ 67° below freezing, was reached. Fortunately, as the
sea was one mass of consolidated pack, the air was dry, and many days
of fine bright sunshine occurred. Later on, as the pack drifted
northwards and broke up, wide lanes of water were formed, causing fogs
and mist and dull overcast weather generally. In short, it may be said
that in the Weddell Sea the best weather comes in winter. Unfortunately
during that season the sun also disappears, so that one cannot enjoy it
as much as one would like.
As a rule, too, southerly winds brought fine clear weather, with marked
fall in the temperature, and those from the north were accompanied by
mist, fog, and overcast skies, with comparatively high temperatures. In
the Antarctic a temperature of 30°, _i.e._ 2° _below_ freezing, is
considered unbearably hot.
The greatest difficulty that was experienced was due to the
accumulation of rime on the instruments. In low temperatures everything
became covered with ice-crystals, deposited from the air, which
eventually grew into huge blocks. Sometimes these blocks became
dislodged and fell, making it dangerous to walk along the decks. The
rime collected on the thermometers, the glass bowl of the sunshine
recorder, and the bearings of the anemometer, necessitating the
frequent use of a brush to remove it, and sometimes effectively
preventing the instruments from recording at all.
One of our worst blizzards occurred on August 1, 1915, which was, for
the ship, the beginning of the end. It lasted for four days, with
cloudy and overcast weather for the three following days, and from that
time onwards we enjoyed very little sun.
The weather that we experienced on Elephant Island can only be
described as appalling. Situated as we were at the mouth of a gully,
down which a huge glacier was slowly moving, with the open sea in front
and to the left, and towering, snow-covered mountains on our right, the
air was hardly ever free from snowdrift, and the winds increased to
terrific violence through being forced over the glacier and through the
narrow gully. Huge blocks of ice were hurled about like pebbles, and
cases of clothing and cooking utensils were whisked out of our hands
and carried away to sea. For the first fortnight after our landing
there, the gale blew, at times, at over one hundred miles an hour.
Fortunately it never again quite reached that intensity, but on several
occasions violent squalls made us very fearful for the safety of our
hut. The island was almost continuously covered with a pall of fog and
snow, clear weather obtaining occasionally when pack-ice surrounded us.
Fortunately a series of south-westerly gales had blown all the ice away
to the north-east two days before the rescue ship arrived, leaving a
comparatively clear sea for her to approach the island.
Being one solitary moving station in the vast expanse of the Weddell
Sea, with no knowledge of what was happening anywhere around us,
forecasting was very difficult and at times impossible.
Great assistance in this direction was afforded by copies of Mr. R. C.
Mossmann’s researches and papers on Antarctic meteorology, which he
kindly supplied to us.
[Illustration: “The Rookery”]
[Illustration: The Anemometer covered with Rime]
I have tried to make this very brief account of the meteorological side
of the Expedition rather more “popular” than scientific, since the
publication and scientific discussion of the observations will be
carried out elsewhere; but if, while showing the difficulties under
which we had to work, it emphasizes the value of Antarctic Expeditions
from a purely utilitarian point of view, and the need for further
continuous research into the conditions obtaining in the immediate
neighbourhood of the Pole, it will have achieved its object.
PHYSICS
By R. W. JAMES, M.A. (Cantab.), B.Sc. (Lond.), Capt. R.E.
Owing to the continued drift of the ship with the ice, the programme of
physical observations originally made out had to be considerably
modified. It had been intended to set up recording magnetic instruments
at the base, and to take a continuous series of records throughout the
whole period of residence there, absolute measurements of the earth’s
horizontal magnetic force, of the dip and declination being taken at
frequent intervals for purposes of calibration. With the ice
continually drifting, and the possibility of the floe cracking at any
time, it proved impracticable to set up the recording instruments, and
the magnetic observations were confined to a series of absolute
measurements taken whenever opportunity occurred. These measurements,
owing to the drift of the ship, extend over a considerable distance,
and give a chain of values along a line stretching, roughly from 77° S.
lat. to 69° S. lat. This is not the place to give the actual results;
it is quite enough to state that, as might have been expected from the
position of the magnetic pole, the values obtained correspond to a
comparatively low magnetic latitude, the value of the dip ranging from
63° to 68°.
So far as possible, continuous records of the electric potential
gradient in the atmosphere were taken, a form of quadrant electrometer
with a boom and ink recorder, made by the Cambridge Scientific
Instrument Company, being employed. Here again, the somewhat peculiar
conditions made work difficult, as the instrument was very susceptible
to small changes of level, such as occurred from time to time owing to
the pressure of the ice on the ship. An ionium collector, for which the
radioactive material was kindly supplied by Mr. F. H. Glew, was used.
The chief difficulty to contend with was the constant formation of
thick deposits of rime, which either grew over the insulation and
spoiled it, or covered up the collector so that it could no longer act.
Nevertheless, a considerable number of good records were obtained,
which have not yet been properly worked out. Conditions during the
Expedition were very favourable for observations on the physical
properties and natural history of sea-ice, and a considerable number of
results were obtained, which are, however, discussed elsewhere, mention
of them being made here since they really come under the heading of
physics.
In addition to these main lines of work, many observations of a
miscellaneous character were made, including those on the occurrence
and nature of parhelia or “mock suns,” which were very common, and
generally finely developed, and observations of the auroral displays,
which were few and rather poor owing to the comparatively low magnetic
latitude. Since most of the observations made are of little value
without a knowledge of the place where they were made, and since a very
complete set of soundings were also taken, the daily determination of
the ship’s position was a matter of some importance. The drift of the
ship throws considerable light on at least one geographical problem,
that of the existence of Morrell Land. The remainder of this appendix
will therefore be devoted to a discussion of the methods used to
determine the positions of the ship from day to day.
The latitude and longitude were determined astronomically every day
when the sun or stars were visible, the position thus determined
serving as the fixed points between which the position on days when the
sky was overcast could be interpolated by the process known as “dead
reckoning,” that is to say, by estimating the speed and course of the
ship, taking into account the various causes affecting it. The sky was
often overcast for several days at a stretch, and it was worth while to
take a certain amount of care in the matter. Captain Worsley
constructed an apparatus which gave a good idea of the direction of
drift at any time. This consisted of an iron rod, which passed through
an iron tube, frozen vertically into the ice, into the water below. At
the lower end of the rod, in the water, was a vane. The rod being free
to turn, the vane took up the direction of the current, the direction
being shown by an indicator attached to the top of the rod. The
direction shown depended, of course, on the drift of the ice relative
to the water, and did not take into account any actual current which
may have been carrying the ice with it, but the true current seems
never to have been large, and the direction of the vane probably gave
fairly accurately the direction of the drift of the ice. No exact idea
of the rate of drift could be obtained from the apparatus, although one
could get an estimate of it by displacing the vane from its position of
rest and noticing how quickly it returned to it, the speed of return
being greater the more rapid the drift. Another means of estimating the
speed and direction of the drift was from the trend of the wire when a
sounding was being taken. The rate and direction of drift appeared to
depend almost entirely on the wind-velocity and direction at the time.
If any true current-effect existed, it is not obvious from a rough
comparison of the drift with the prevailing wind, but a closer
investigation of the figures may show some outstanding effect due to
current.[1] The drift was always to the left of the actual
wind-direction. This effect is due to the rotation of the earth, a
corresponding deviation to the right of the wind direction being noted
by Nansen during the drift of the _Fram_. A change in the direction of
the wind was often preceded by some hours by a change in the reading of
the drift vane. This is no doubt due to the ice to windward being set
in motion, the resulting disturbance travelling through the ice more
rapidly than the approaching wind.
[1] Cf. “Scientific results of Norwegian North Polar Expedition,
1893–96,” vol. iii, p. 357.
For the astronomical observations either the sextant or a theodolite
was used. The theodolite employed was a light 3´´ Vernier instrument by
Carey Porter, intended for sledging work. This instrument was fairly
satisfactory, although possibly rigidity had been sacrificed to
lightness to rather too great an extent. Another point which appears
worth mentioning is the following: The foot-screws were of brass, the
tribrach, into which they fitted, was made of aluminium for the sake of
lightness. The two metals have a different coefficient of expansion,
and while the feet fitted the tribrach at ordinary temperatures, they
were quite loose at temperatures in the region of 20° Fahr. below zero.
In any instrument designed for use at low temperatures, care should be
taken that parts which have to fit together are made of the same
material.
For determining the position in drifting pack-ice, the theodolite
proved to be a more generally useful instrument than the sextant. The
ice-floes are quite steady in really thick pack-ice, and the theodolite
can be set up and levelled as well as on dry land. The observations,
both for latitude and longitude, consist in measuring altitude of the
sun or of a star. The chief uncertainty in this measurement is that
introduced by the refraction of light by the air. At very low
temperatures, the correction to be applied on this account is
uncertain, and, if possible, observations should always be made in
pairs with a north star and a south star for a latitude, and an east
star and a west star for a longitude. The refraction error will then
usually mean out. This error affects observations both with the
theodolite and the sextant, but in the case of the sextant another
cause of error occurs. In using the sextant, the angle between the
heavenly body and the visible horizon is measured directly. Even in
dense pack-ice, if the observations are taken from the deck of the ship
or from a hummock or a low berg, the apparent horizon is usually sharp
enough for the purpose. In very cold weather, however, and particularly
if there are open leads and pools between the observer and the horizon,
there is frequently a great deal of mirage, and the visible horizon may
be miraged up several minutes. This will reduce the altitude observed,
and corrections on this account are practically impossible to apply.
This error may be counterbalanced to some extent by pairing
observations as described above, but it by no means follows that the
mirage effect will be the same in the two directions. Then again,
during the summer months, no stars will be visible, and observations
for latitude will have to depend on a single noon sight of the sun. If
the sun is visible at midnight its altitude will be too low for
accurate observations, and in any case atmospheric conditions will be
quite different from those prevailing at noon. In the Antarctic,
therefore, conditions are peculiarly difficult for getting really
accurate observations, and it is necessary to reduce the probability of
error in a single observation as much as possible. When possible,
observations of the altitude of a star or of the sun should be taken
with the theodolite, since the altitude is referred to the spirit-level
of the instrument, and is independent of any apparent horizon. During
the drift of the _Endurance_ both means of observation were generally
employed. A comparison of the results showed an agreement between
sextant and theodolite, within the errors of the instrument if the
temperature was above about 20° Fahr. At lower temperatures there were
frequently discrepancies which could generally be attributed to the
mirage effects described above.
As the _Endurance_ was carried by the ice-drift well to the west of the
Weddell Sea, towards the position of the supposed Morrell Land, the
accurate determination of longitude became a matter of moment in view
of the controversy as to the existence of this land. During a long
voyage latitude can always be determined with about the same accuracy,
the accuracy merely depending on the closeness with which altitudes can
be measured. In the case of longitude matters are rather different. The
usual method employed consists in the determination of the local time
by astronomical observations, and the comparison of this time with
Greenwich time, as shown by the ship’s chronometer, an accurate
knowledge of the errors and rate of the chronometer being required.
During the voyage of the _Endurance_ about fifteen months elapsed
during which no check on the chronometers could be obtained by the
observation of known land, and had no other check been applied there
would have been the probability of large errors in the longitudes. For
the purpose of checking the chronometers a number of observations of
occultations were observed during the winter of 1915. An occultation is
really the eclipse of a star by the moon. A number of such eclipses
occur monthly, and are tabulated in the “Nautical Almanac.” From the
data given there it is possible to compute the Greenwich time at which
the phenomenon ought to occur for an observer situated at any place on
the earth, provided his position is known within a few miles, which
will always be the case. The time of disappearance of the star by the
chronometer to be corrected is noted. The actual Greenwich time of the
occurrence is calculated, and the error of the chronometer is thus
determined. With ordinary care the chronometer error can be determined
in this way to within a few seconds, which is accurate enough for
purposes of navigation. The principal difficulties of this method lie
in the fact that comparatively few occultations occur, and those which
do occur are usually of stars of the fifth magnitude or lower. In the
Antarctic, conditions for observing occultation are rather favourable
during the winter, since, fifth-magnitude stars can be seen with a
small telescope at any time during the twenty-four hours if the sky is
clear, and the moon is also often above the horizon for a large
fraction of the time. In the summer, however, the method is quite
impossible, since, for some months, stars are not to be seen.
No chronometer check could be applied until June 1915. On June 24 a
series of four occultations were observed; and the results of the
observations showed an error in longitude of a whole degree. In July,
August, and September further occultations were observed, and a fairly
reliable rate was worked out for the chronometers and watches. After
the crushing of the ship on October 27, 1915, no further occultations
were observed, but the calculated rates for the watches were employed,
and the longitude deduced, using these rates on March 23, 1916, was
only about 10´ of arc in error, judging by the observations of
Joinville Land made on that day. It is thus fairly certain that no
large error can have been made in the determination of the position of
the _Endurance_ at any time during the drift, and her course can be
taken as known with greater certainty than is usually the case in a
voyage of such length.
SOUTH ATLANTIC WHALES AND WHALING
By ROBERT S. CLARK, M.A., B.Sc., Lieut. R.N.V.R.
Modern whaling methods were introduced into sub-Antarctic seas in 1904,
and operations commenced in the following year at South Georgia. So
successful was the initial venture that several companies were floated,
and the fishing area was extended to the South Shetlands, the South
Orkneys, and as far as 67° S along the western coast of Graham Land.
This area lies within the Dependencies of the Falkland Islands, and is
under the control of the British Government, and its geographical
position offers exceptional opportunities for the successful
prosecution of the industry by providing a sufficient number of safe
anchorages and widely separated islands, where shore stations have been
established. The Dependencies of the Falkland Islands lie roughly
within latitude 50° and 65° S. and longitude 25° and 70° W., and
include the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich, South
Orkney, and South Shetland Islands, and part of Graham Land.
The industry is prosperous, and the products always find a ready
market. In this sub-Antarctic area alone, the resulting products more
than doubled the world’s supply. The total value of the Falkland Island
Dependencies in 1913 amounted to £1,252,432, in 1914 to £1,300,978, in
1915 to £1,333,401, and in 1916 to £1,774,570. This has resulted
chiefly from the marketing of whale oil and the by-product, guano, and
represents for each total a season’s capture of several thousand
whales. In 1916, the number of whales captured in this area was 11,860,
which included 6000 for South Georgia alone. Whale oil, which is now
the product of most economic value in the whaling industry, is produced
in four grades (some companies adding a fifth). These are Nos. 0, I,
II, III, IV, which in 1913 sold at £24, £22, £20, and £18 respectively
per ton, net weight, barrels included (there are six barrels to a ton).
The 1919 prices have increased to
£72 10s. per ton (barrels included) less 2½ per cent.
£68 per ton (barrels included) less 2½ per cent.
£65 ” ” ” ” ” ” ”
£63 ” ” ” ” ” ” ”
Whale oil can be readily transformed into glycerine: it is used in the
manufacture of soap, and quite recently, both in this country and in
Norway, it has been refined by means of a simple hardening process into
a highly palatable and nutritious margarine. Wartime conditions
emphasized the importance of the whale oil, and fortunately the supply
was fairly constant for the production of the enormous quantities of
glycerine required by the country in the manufacture of explosives. In
relation to the food supply, it was no less important in saving the
country from a “fat” famine, when the country was confronted with the
shortage of vegetable and other animal oils. The production of guano,
bone-meal, and flesh-meal may pay off the running expenses of a
whaling-station, but their value lies, perhaps, more in their
individual properties. Flesh-meal makes up into cattle-cake, which
forms an excellent fattening food for cattle, while bone-meal and guano
are very effective fertilizers. Guano is the meat—generally the residue
of distillation—which goes through a process of drying and
disintegration, and is mixed with the crushed bone in the proportion of
two parts flesh to one part bone. This is done chiefly at the shore
stations, and, to a less extent on floating factories, though so far on
the latter it has not proved very profitable. Whale flesh, though
slightly greasy perhaps and of strong flavour, is quite palatable, and
at South Georgia, it made a welcome addition to our bill of fare—the
flesh of the hump back being used. A large supply of whale flesh was
“shipped” as food for the dogs on the journey South, and this was eaten
ravenously. It is interesting to note also the successful rearing of
pigs at South Georgia—chiefly, if not entirely, on the whale products.
The whalebone or baleen plates, which at one time formed the most
valuable article of the Arctic fishery, may here be regarded as of
secondary importance. The baleen plates of the southern right whale
reach only a length of about 7 ft., and have been valued at £750 per
ton, but the number of these whales captured is very small indeed. In
the case of the other whalebone whales, the baleen plates are much
smaller and of inferior quality—the baleen of the sei whale probably
excepted, and this only makes about £85 per ton, Sperm whales have been
taken at South Georgia and the South Shetlands, but never in any
quantity, being more numerous in warmer areas. The products and their
value are too well known to be repeated.
The _Endurance_ reached South Georgia on November 5, 1914, and anchored
in King Edward Cove, Cumberland Bay, off Grytviken, the shore station
of the Argentina Pesca Company. During the month’s stay at the island a
considerable amount of time was devoted to a study of the whales and
the whaling industry, in the intervals of the general routine of
expedition work, and simultaneously with other studies on the general
life of this interesting sub-Antarctic island. Visits were made to six
of the seven existing stations, observations were made on the whales
landed, and useful insight was gathered as to the general working of
the industry.
From South Georgia the track of the _Endurance_ lay in a direct line to
the South Sandwich Group, between Saunders and Candlemas Islands. Then
south-easterly and southerly courses were steered to the Coats’ Land
barrier, along which we steamed for a few hundred miles until forced
westward, when we were unfortunately held up in about lat. 76° 34´ S.
and long. 37° 30´ W. on January 19, 1915, by enormous masses of heavy
pack-ice. The ship drifted to lat. 76° 59´ S., long. 37° 47´ W. on
March 19, 1915, and then west and north until crushed in lat. 69° 5´ S.
and long. 51° 30´ W. on October 26, 1915. We continued drifting
gradually north, afloat on ice-floes, past Graham Land and Joinville
Island, and finally took to the boats on April 9, 1916, and reached
Elephant Island on April 15. The Falkland Island Dependencies were thus
practically circumnavigated, and it may be interesting to compare the
records of whales seen in the region outside and to the south of this
area with the records and the percentage of each species captured in
the intensive fishing area.
The most productive part of the South Atlantic lies south of latitude
50° S., where active operations extend to and even beyond the Antarctic
circle. It appears to be the general rule in Antarctic waters that
whales are more numerous the closer the association with ice
conditions, and there seems to be reasonable grounds for supposing that
this may explain the comparatively few whales sighted by Expeditions
which have explored the more northerly and more open seas, while the
whalers themselves have even asserted that their poor seasons have
nearly always coincided with the absence of ice, or with poor ice
conditions. At all events, those Expeditions which have penetrated far
south and well into the pack-ice have, without exception, reported the
presence of whales in large numbers, even in the farthest south
latitudes, so that our knowledge of the occurrence of whales in the
Antarctic has been largely derived from these Expeditions, whose main
object was either the discovery of new land or the Pole itself. The
largest number of Antarctic Expeditions has concentrated on the two
areas of the South Atlantic and the Ross Sea, and the records of the
occurrences of whales have, in consequence, been concentrated in these
two localities. In the intervening areas, however, Expeditions, notably
the _Belgica_ on the western side and the _Gauss_ on the eastern side
of the Antarctic continent, have reported whales in moderately large
numbers, so that the stock is by no means confined to the two areas
above mentioned.
The effective fishing area may be assumed to lie within a radius of a
hundred miles from each shore station and floating-factory anchorage,
and a rough estimate of all the Falkland stations works out at 160,000
square miles. The total for the whole Falkland area is about 2,000,000
square miles, which is roughly less than a sixth of the total Antarctic
sea area. The question then arises as to how far the “catch percentage”
during the short fishing season affects the total stock, but so far one
can only conjecture as to the actual results from a comparison of the
numbers seen, chiefly by scientific and other Expeditions, in areas
outside the intensive fishing area with the numbers and percentage of
each species captured in the intensive fishing area. Sufficient
evidence, however, seems to point quite definitely to one species—the
humpback—being in danger of extermination, but the blue and fin
whales—the other two species of rorquals which form the bulk of the
captures—appear to be as frequent now as they have ever been.
The whales captured at the various whaling-stations of the Falkland
area are confined largely to three species—blue whale (_Balænoptera
musculus_), fin whale (_Balænoptera physalis_), and humpback
(_Megaptera nodosa_); sperm whales (_Physeter catodon_) and right
whales (_Balæna glacialis_) being only occasional and rare captures,
while the sei whale (_Balænoptera borealis_) appeared in the captures
at South Georgia in 1913, and now forms a large percentage of the
captures at the Falkland Islands. During the earlier years of whaling
at South Georgia, and up to the fishing season 1910–11, humpbacks
formed practically the total catch. In 1912–13 the following were the
percentages for the three rorquals in the captures at South Georgia and
South Shetlands:
Humpback 38 per cent., fin whale 36 per cent., blue whale 20 per cent.
Of late years the percentages have altered considerably, blue whales
and fin whales predominating, humpbacks decreasing rapidly. In 1915,
the South Georgia Whaling Company (Messrs. Salvesen, Leith) captured
1085 whales, consisting of 15 per cent. humpback, 25 per cent. fin
whales, 58 per cent. blue whales, and 2 right whales. In the same year
the captures of three companies at the South Shetlands gave 1512
whales, and the percentages worked out at 12 per cent. humpbacks, 42
per cent. fin whales, and 45 per cent. blue whales. In 1919, the
Southern Whaling and Sealing Company captured (at Stromness, South
Georgia) 529 whales, of which 2 per cent. were humpbacks, 51 per cent.
fin whales, and 45 per cent. blue whales. These captures do not
represent the total catch, but are sufficiently reliable to show how
the species are affected. The reduction in numbers of the humpback is
very noticeable, and even allowing for the possible increase in size of
gear for the capture of the larger and more lucrative blue and fin
whales, there is sufficient evidence to warrant the fears that the
humpback stock is threatened with extinction.
In the immediate northern areas—in the region from latitude 50° S.
northward to the equator, which is regarded as next in importance
quantitatively to the sub-Antarctic, though nothing like being so
productive, the captures are useful for a comparative study in
distribution. At Saldanha Bay, Cape Colony, in 1912, 131 whales were
captured and the percentages were as follows: 35 per cent. humpback, 13
per cent. fin whale, 4 per cent. blue whale, 46 per cent. sei whale,
while nearer the equator, at Port Alexander, the total capture was 322
whales, and the percentages gave 98 per cent. humpback, and only 2
captures each of fin and sei whales. In 1914, at South Africa (chiefly
Saldanha Bay and Durban), out of a total of 839 whales 60 per cent.
were humpback, 25 per cent. fin whales, and 13 per cent. blue whales.
In 1916, out of a total of 853 whales 10 per cent. were humpback, 13
per cent. fin whales, 6 per cent. blue whales, 68 per cent. sperm
whales, and 1 per cent. sei whales. In Chilian waters, in 1916, a total
of 327 whales gave 31 per cent. humpbacks, 24 per cent. fin whales, 26
per cent. blue whales, 12 per cent. sperm whales, and 5 right whales.
There seems then to be a definite interrelation between the two areas.
The same species of whales are captured, and the periods of capture
alternate with perfect regularity, the fishing season occurring from
the end of November to April in the sub-Antarctic and from May to
November in the sub-tropics. A few of the companies, however, carry on
operations to a limited extent at South Georgia and at the Falkland
islands during the southern winter, but the fishing is by no means a
profitable undertaking, though proving the presence of whales in this
area during the winter months.
The migrations of whales are influenced by two causes:
(1) The distribution of their food-supply;
(2) The position of their breeding-grounds.
In the Antarctic, during the summer months, there is present in the sea
an abundance of plant and animal life, and whales which feed on the
small _plankton_ organisms are correspondingly numerous, but in winter
this state of things is reversed, and whales are poorly represented or
absent, at least in the higher latitudes. During the drift of the
_Endurance_ samples of _plankton_ were taken almost daily during an
Antarctic summer and winter. From December to March, a few minutes haul
of a tow-net at the surface was sufficient to choke up the meshes with
the plant and animal life, but this abundance of surface life broke off
abruptly in April, and subsequent hauls contained very small organisms
until the return of daylight and the opening up of the pack-ice. The
lower water strata, down to about 100 fathoms, were only a little more
productive, and _Euphausiæ_ were taken in the hauls—though sparingly.
During the winter spent at Elephant Island, our total catch of gentoo
penguins amounted to 1436 for the period April 15 to August 30, 1916.
All these birds were cut up, the livers and hearts were extracted for
food, and the skins were used as fuel. At the same time the stomachs
were invariably examined, and a record kept of the contents. The
largest proportion of these contained the small crustacean _Euphausia_,
and this generally to the exclusion of other forms. Occasionally,
however, small fish were recorded. The quantity of _Euphausiæ_ present
in most of the stomachs was enormous for the size of the birds. These
penguins were migrating, and came ashore only when the bays were clear
of ice, as there were several periods of fourteen consecutive days when
the bays and the surrounding sea were covered over with a thick compact
mass of ice-floes, and then penguins were entirely absent.
_Euphausiæ_, then, seem to be present in sufficient quantity in
certain, if not in all, sub-Antarctic waters during the southern
winter. We may assume then that the migration to the south, during the
Antarctic summer, is definitely in search of food. Observations have
proved the existence of a northern migration, and it seems highly
improbable that this should also be in search of food, but rather for
breeding purposes, and it seems that the whales select the more
temperate regions for the bringing forth of their young. This view is
strengthened by the statistical fœtal records, which show the pairing
takes place in the northern areas, that the fœtus is carried by the
mother during the southern migration to the Antarctic, and that the
calves are born in the more congenial waters north of the sub-Antarctic
area. We have still to prove, however, the possibility of a circumpolar
migration, and we are quite in the dark as to the number of whales that
remain in sub-Antarctic areas during the Southern winter.
The following is a rough classification of whales, with special
reference to those known to occur in the South Atlantic:
1. WHALEBONE WHALES (_Mystacoceti_)
____________________|__________________
Right whales (_Balænidæ_) Rorquals (_Balænopteridæ_)
| ________________|_________
Southern right whale | | (_Balæna
glacialis_) Finner whales Humpback
(_Balænoptera_) (_Megaptera nodosa_)
Blue whale (_B. musculus_) Fin whale (_B.
physalis_) Sei whale (_B. borealis_) Piked
whale (_B. acutorostrata_) Bryde’s whale (_B.
brydei_)
2. TOOTHED WHALES (_Odontoceti_)
_________________________|________________________
Sperm whale Beaked whales Dolphins (_Physeter
catodon_) (including bottlenose whales) (1) Killer (_Hyperoodon
rostratus_) (_Orcinus orca_) (2) Black Fish (_Globicephalus melas_)
(3) Porpoises (_Lagenorhynchus_ sp.)
The subdivision of whalebone whales is one of degree in the size of the
whalebone. These whales have enormously muscular tongues, which press
the water through the whalebone lamellæ and thus, by a filtering
process, retain the small food organisms. The food of the whalebone
whales is largely the small crustacea which occur in the _plankton_,
though some whales (humpback, fin whales, and sei whales) feed also on
fish. The stomachs examined at South Georgia during December 1914,
belonged to the three species, humpbacks, fin whales, and blue whales,
and all contained small crustacea—_Euphausiæ_, with a mixture of
_amphipods_. The toothed whales—sperms and bottlenoses—are known to
live on squids, and that there is an abundance of this type of food in
the Weddell Sea was proved by an examination of penguin and seal
stomachs. Emperor penguins (and hundreds of these were examined) were
invariably found to contain _Cephalopod_ “beaks,” while large, partly
digested squids were often observed in Weddell seals. A dorsal fin is
present in the rorquals but absent in right whales. With other
characters, notably the size of the animal, it serves as a ready mark
of identification, but is occasionally confusing owing to the variation
in shape in some of the species.
With the exception of several schools of porpoises very few whales were
seen during the outward voyage. Not till we approached the Falkland
area did they appear in any numbers. Four small schools of fin whales
and a few humpbacks were sighted on October 28 and 29, 1914, in lat.
38° 01´ S., long. 55° 03´ W. and in lat. 40° 35´ S., long. 53° 11´ W.,
while _Globicephalus melas_ was seen only once, in lat. 45° 17´ S.,
long. 48° 58´ W., on October 31, 1914. At South Georgia, the whales
captured at the various stations in December 1914, were blue whales,
fin whales, and humpbacks (arranged respectively according to numbers
captured). During the fishing season 1914–15 (from December to March)
in the area covered—South Georgia to the South Sandwich Islands and
along Coats’ Land to the head of the Weddell Sea—the records of whales
were by no means numerous. Two records only could with certainty be
assigned to the humpback, and these were in the neighbourhood of the
South Sandwich Islands. Pack-ice was entered in lat. 59° 55´ S., long.
18° 28´ W., and blue whales were recorded daily until about 65° S.
Between lat. 65° 43´ S., long. 17° 30´ W., on December 27, 1914, and
lat. 69° 59´ S., long. 17° 31´ W., on January 3, 1915, no whales were
seen. On January 4, however, in lat. 69° 59´ S., long. 17° 36´ W., two
large sperm whales appeared close ahead of the ship in fairly open
water, and were making westward. They remained sufficiently long on the
surface to render their identification easy. Farther south, blue whales
were only seen occasionally, and fin whales could only be identified in
one or two cases. Killers, however, were numerous, and the lesser piked
whale was quite frequent. There was no doubt about the identity of this
latter species as it often came close alongside the ship. From April to
September (inclusive) the sea was frozen over (with the exception of
local “leads”), and whales were found to be absent. In October whales
again made their appearance, and from then onwards they were a daily
occurrence. Identification of the species, however, was a difficult
matter, for the _Endurance_ was crushed and had sunk, and observations
were only possible from the ice-floe, or later on from the boats. The
high vertical “spout” opening out into a dense spray was often visible,
and denoted the presence of blue and fin whales. The lesser piked whale
again appeared in the “leads” close to our “camp” floe, and was easily
identified. An exceptional opportunity was presented to us on December
6, 1915, when a school of eight bottlenose whales (_Hyperoodon
rostratus_) appeared in small “pool” alongside “Ocean” Camp in lat. 67°
47´ S., long. 52° 18´ W. These ranged from about 20 ft. to a little
over 30 ft. in length, and were of a uniform dark dun colour—the large
specimens having a dull yellow appearance. There were no white spots.
At the edge of the pack-ice during the first half of April 1916, about
lat. 62° S. and long. 54° W. (entrance to Bransfield Strait), whales
were exceedingly numerous, and these were chiefly fin whales, though a
few seemed to be sei whales. It is interesting to note that the fishing
season 1915–1916 was exceptionally productive—no less than 11,860
whales having been captured in the Falkland area alone.
The South Atlantic whaling industry, then, has reached a critical stage
in development. It is now dependent on the captures of the large fin
and blue whales, humpbacks having been rapidly reduced in numbers, so
that the total stock appears to have been affected. With regard to the
other species, the southern right whale has never been abundant in the
captures, the sperm whale and the sei whale have shown a good deal of
seasonal variation, though never numerous, and the bottlenose and
lesser piked whale have so far not been hunted, except in the case of
the latter for human food. The vigorous slaughter of whales both in the
sub-Antarctic and in the sub-tropics, for the one area reacts on the
other, calls for universal legislation to protect the whales from early
commercial extinction, and the industry, which is of world-wide
economic importance, from having to be abandoned. The British
Government, with the control of the world’s best fisheries, is
thoroughly alive to the situation, and an Inter-departmental Committee,
under the direction of the Colonial Office, is at present devising a
workable scheme for suitable legislation for the protection of the
whales and for the welfare of the industry.
APPENDIX II
THE EXPEDITION HUTS AT McMURDO SOUND
By SIR E. H. SHACKLETON
The following notes are designed for the benefit of future explorers
who may make McMurdo Sound a base for inland operations, and to clear
any inaccuracies or ambiguities concerning the history, occupation, and
state of these huts.
(1) THE NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION’S HUT AT HUT POINT—THE HEAD OF
McMURDO SOUND
This hut was constructed by Captain Scott in 1902, by the Expedition
sent out by the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society, the
Government, and by private subscription. Captain Robert F. Scott was
appointed to the command of the Expedition. I served as Third
Lieutenant until February 1903, when I was invalided home through a
broken blood vessel in the lungs, the direct result of scurvy
contracted on the Southern journey. The _Discovery_ hut was a large
strong building, but was so draughty and cold in comparison with the
ship, which was moored one hundred yards away, that it was, during the
first year, never used for living quarters. Its sole use was as a
storehouse, and a large supply of rough stores, such as flour, cocoa,
coffee, biscuit, and tinned meat, was left there in the event of its
being used as a place of retreat should any disaster overtake the ship.
During the second year occasional parties camped inside the hut, but no
bunks or permanent sleeping quarters were ever erected. The discomfort
of the hut was a byword on the Expedition, but it formed an excellent
depot and starting-point for all parties proceeding to the south.
When the _Discovery_ finally left McMurdo Sound, the hut was stripped
of all gear, including the stove, but there was left behind a large
depot of the stores mentioned above. I was not aware of this until I
returned to McMurdo Sound in February 1908, when I sent Adams, Joyce,
and Wild across to the hut whilst the _Nimrod_ was lying off the ice.
On the return of the party they reported that the door had been burst
open, evidently by a southerly blizzard, and was jammed by snow outside
and in, so they made an entrance through one of the lee windows. They
found the hut practically clear of snow, and the structure quite
intact. I used the hut in the spring, _i.e._ September and October
1908, as a storehouse for the large amount of equipment, food, and oil
that we were to take on the Southern journey. We built a sort of
living-room out of the cases of provisions, and swept out the debris.
The Southern Party elected to sleep there before the start, but the
supporting party slept outside in the tents, as they considered it
warmer.
We still continued to use the lee window as means of ingress and egress
to avoid continual shovelling away of the snow, which would be
necessary as every southerly blizzard blocked up the main entrance. The
various depot parties made use of the hut for replenishing their
stores, which had been sledged from my own hut to Hut Point. On the
night of March 3, 1909, I arrived with the Southern Party, with a sick
man, having been absent on the march 128 days. Our position was bad, as
the ship was north of us. We tried to burn the Magnetic Hut in the hope
of attracting attention from the ship, but were not able to get it to
light. We finally managed to light a flare of carbide, and the ship
came down to us in a blizzard, and all were safely aboard at 1 a.m. on
March 4, 1909. Before leaving the hut we jammed the window up with
baulks of timber, to the best of our ability, in the storm and
darkness. The hut was used again by the Ross Sea Section of this last
Expedition. The snow was cleared out and extra stores were placed in
it. From reports I have received the _Discovery_ Hut was in as good
condition in 1917 as it was in 1902.
The stores placed there in 1902 are intact. There are a few cases of
extra provisions and oil in the hut, but no sleeping gear, or
accommodation, nor stoves, and it must not be looked upon as anything
else than a shelter and a most useful _pied-à-terre_ for the start of
any Southern journey. No stores nor any equipment have been taken from
it during either of my two Expeditions.
(2) CAPE ROYDS HUT
For several reasons, when I went into McMurdo Sound in 1908 in command
of my own Expedition, known as the British Antarctic Expedition, after
having failed to land on King Edward VII Land, I decided to build our
hut at Cape Royds—a small promontory twenty-three miles north of Hut
Point. Here the whole shore party lived in comfort through the winter
of 1908. When spring came stores were sledged to Hut Point, so that
should the sea-ice break up early between these two places we might not
be left in an awkward position. After the return of the Southern Party
we went direct north to civilization, so I never visited my hut again.
I had left, however, full instructions with Professor David as to the
care of the hut, and before the whole Expedition left, the hut was put
in order. A letter was pinned in a conspicuous place inside, stating
that there were sufficient provisions and equipment to last fifteen men
for one year, indicating also the details of these provisions and the
position of the coal store. The stove was in good condition, and the
letter ended with an invitation for any succeeding party to make what
use they required of stores and hut. The hut was then locked and the
key nailed on the door in a conspicuous place. From the report of
Captain Scott’s last Expedition the hut was in good condition, and from
a still later report from the Ross Sea side of this present Expedition,
the hut was still intact.
(3) CAPE EVANS HUT
This large and commodious hut was constructed by Captain Scott at Cape
Evans on his last Expedition. The party lived in it in comfort, and it
was left well supplied with stores in the way of food and oil, and a
certain amount of coal. Several of the scientific staff of this present
Expedition were ashore in it, when the _Aurora_, which was to have been
the permanent winter quarters, broke adrift in May 1915, and went north
with the ice. The hut became the permanent living quarters for the ten
marooned men, and thanks to the stores they were able to sustain life
in comparative comfort, supplementing these stores from my hut at Cape
Royds. In January 1917, after I had rescued the survivors, I had the
hut put in order and locked up.
To sum up, there are three available huts in McMurdo Sound.
(a) The _Discovery_ Hut with a certain amount of rough stores, and only
of use as a point of departure for the South.
(b) Cape Royds Hut with a large amount of general stores, but no
clothing or equipment now.
(c) Cape Evans Hut with a large amount of stores, but no clothing or
equipment and only a few sledges.
(4) DEPOTS SOUTH OF HUT POINT
In spite of the fact that several depots have been laid to the south of
Hut Point on the Barrier, the last being at the Gap (the entrance to
the Beardmore Glacier), no future Expedition should depend on them as
the heavy snowfall obliterates them completely. There is no record of
the depots of any Expedition being made use of by any subsequent
Expedition. No party in any of my Expeditions has used any depot laid
down by a previous Expedition.
[Illustration: The Voyage of the _Endurance_]
INDEX
Adare, Cape
Admiralty
Range
Agag
Aitken
Albatross
Allardyce Range
Allen, James
Amphipods
Amundsen
(dog)
“Ancient Mariner,”
Animal life in Weddell Sea
_See also_ Penguins Seals _and_ Bird life
Annewkow Island
Antarctic Circle
Derby
Argentine
Armitage, Cape
Lieut.
Atmospheric effects
_See also_ Mirage _and_ Sun
Attempt to cut ship out
_Aurora,_
Aurora Australis
Australia
Bakewell
Barne Glacier
Barrier
Great Ice
surface
Beardmore Glacier
Beaufort Island
Belgica Straits
Bergs
Bergschrund
Bernsten, Mr.
Bird life in Weddell Sea
Black Island
Blackborrow
Blizzards, severe
Blue Ice Glacier
Bluff
depot
Boats
Bovril
British territory
Brocklehurst, Capt. H. Courtney
Browning
Bruce, Dr. W. S.
Buenos Ayres
Burberry clothing
Butler Point depot
Caird Coast
Sir James
_Caird, James_ (boat)
Candlemas Volcano
Cape Barne
Bernacchi
Bird
Cotter
Crozier
Evans
Horn weather
Hudson
pigeons
Ross
Royds
Valentine
Wild
Castle Rock
Cave Cove
Cheetham
Chile
Christmas celebrations
Clarence Island
Clark
Coal, Antarctic
on deck
Coats’ Land
Con (dog)
Cook
Cope
Corner Camp
Coulman Islands
Crean
Current meter
Cyclone
Danger Islands
Davis, Captain John K.
Daylight saving
Deception Islands
_Diatoms_
_Discovery_
Discovery Bay
Mount
Distances, Ross Sea Party
Dog-pemmican
Dogs
Dominican gulls
Dudley Docker Mr.
_Dudley Docker_ (boat)
Dunlop Island
Dump Camp
Eclipse of moon
Elephant Island
_Emma_
Empire Day celebrations
_Encyclopædia Britannica_
Enderby Land
_Endurance_
abandoned
beset
crushed
sunk
Erebus Mount
Expedition ships
first made public
Mawson
Scott
Shackleton
Swedish
Falkland Islands
Wireless listened for
Farthest South
Scott’s
Filchner
Financial help, appeal for
failure to materialize
promised
Fish, dead
from sea-leopard
new species
Föhn effect
Fortuna Bay
Glacier
Franklin Island
Galley
Gallipoli
Garrard, Mr. Cherry
Gaze
Girling tractor-motor
Glacier Bay
Tongue
_Glasgow_, H.M.S.
Gold
Graham Land
Greenstreet
Grytviken
Gunner (dog)
Half-way Camp
Harding, Mr.
_Harpoon_
Hayward
Hercules (dog)
Hobart
Holness
Hooke
Hope Bay
Mountain
Howe
Hudson
Hurley
Hurtado, Admiral Muñoz
Hussey
Husvik
Hut, Cape Evans
Cape Royds
Elephant Island
at Hut Point;
Hut Point
Ice-blink
Ice-hole
Inaccessible Island
_Instituto de Pesca_
Jack
Jaeger sleeping-bags
James
Joinville Land
Joyce
Kavenagh
Kelvin sounding machine
Kerr
Khyber Pass
Killer whales
King Haakon Bay
King George V, flag
to inspect _Endurance_
telegram from
telegram to
Lambton, Miss Elizabeth Dawson
Lamps
Larkman
Leap Year Day
Leith
Lucas sounding machine
Luitpold Land
_Lusitania_
Mackintosh
Macklin
Macquarie Island
Magnetic Pole
storm
variation
Magellan Straits
Marston
Mauger
McCarthy
McDonald, Allen
McIlroy
McLeod
McMurdo Sound
McNab, Dr.
McNeish
Meteorology
Midwinter’s Day celebrations
Minna Bluff
Mirage
Montevideo
Morell Land
Morell’s Farthest South
Motor crawler
sledge
tractor
Mount Haddington
Melbourne
Murchison
Sabine
Mugridge
Mutton Island
New South Greenland
New Year Island
New Zealand
Nigger (dog)
_Nimrod_
Ninnis
Nordenskjold
Ice Tongue
North Polar Basin
Norwegian Whalers
Nurse Cavell
Orde-Lees
_Orita_
_Orwell_
Oscar (dog)
Pack-ice
described
_See also_ Pressure
Paddies
Pardo, Captain Luis
Paulet Island
Peak Berg
Foreman
Peggotty Camp
Penguins
Adelie
Emperor
Gentoo
Ringed
Peter (dog)
Petrels
_See also_ Bird life
Pinkey (dog)
_Plankton_
Pompey (dog)
Porpoises
Port Chalmers
Positions
Possession Bay
Islands
Potash and Perlmutter
Pram Point
Pressure in Ross Sea
in Weddell Sea
_See also_ Pack-ice
Prince George Island
Programme of Expedition
Public Schools
Punta Arenas
Pups
Queen Alexandra
_Radiolaria_
Rain
Rats on South Georgia
Rampart Berg
Razorback Island
Reeling Berg
Refraction, _See_ Atmospheric effects
Reindeer
Richards
Rickenson
Rio Secco
Rocky Mountain Depot
Ross
Island
Sea
Sea Party
Royal Geographical Society
Ryan, Lieut. R.N.R.
Safety Camp
Saint (dog)
Sally (dog)
Samson (dog)
Sanders Island
Santiago
Saunders, Edward
Scientific observations commenced
work proposed
_Scotia_
Scott
Sea-elephants
Sea-leopard
Seal blubber
meat
Seals
Crab-eater
Ross
Weddell
Semaphore for sledging parties
on bridge
Shags
Shackleton, Sir E.
Shoaling, of sea-floor
Shore party
Sledging parties, proposed
Snapper (dog)
Snow Hill
Soldier (dog)
Sorlle, Mr.
South Georgia
Orkneys
Sandwich Group
_Southern Sky_
Spencer-Smith
Splitting ice-floes
Stained Berg
Stancomb Wills, Dame Janet
_Stancomb Wills_ (boat)
Stenhouse
Stevens
Stove
Stromness
Sue (dog)
Sun disappears
_See also_ Atmospheric effects
Swell
Temperature, air
sea
Tent Island
Tents
orderlies
Terns, _See also_ Bird life
Terriss, Ellaline
“The Ritz”
Thom, Captain
Thompson
Tide-rip
Tobacco substitutes
Towser (dog)
Transcontinental party
Tripp, Mr. Leonard
Talloch, Mr.
Turk’s Head
Uruguayan Government
Vahsel Bay
Victoria Mountains
Vincent
Vinie’s Hill
Virol
Wave, enormous
Weddell Sea
ice conditions in
plateau
winds in
Weather at Cape Evans
at Elephant Island
at Ocean Camp
at Patience Camp, _See also_ Temperatures
Western Mountains
Whales
blue
humpback and finner seen
sperm
Wilhelmina Bay
Willywaw
Winston Churchill
Wild, Ernest
Frank
Wordie
Worsley
Wreckage at South Georgia
Yaks
_Yelcho_
Young, Mr. Douglas
Young Island