Section Illustrating The Moat In The Antarctic Continental Shelf
One successful dredging in eighteen hundred fathoms brought up some large erratics and coaly matter, besides a great variety of animal life. It was instructive to find that the erratics were coated with a film of manganese oxide derived from the sea-water. Several tow-nettings were taken with large nets automatically closing at any desired depth through the medium of a "messenger." Small crustaceans were plentiful on the surface, but they were if anything more numerous at depths of fifty to one hundred fathoms. Amongst the latter were some strongly phosphorescent forms. The flying birds were "logged" daily by the biologists. Emperor and Adelie penguins were occasionally seen, among the floes as well as sea-leopards, crab-eater and Weddell seals.
Friday January 16 deserves mention as being a day full of incident. In the morning a thin, cold fog hung along the pack whose edge determined our course. Many petrels flew around, and on the brash-ice there were dark swarms of terns—small birds with black-capped heads, dove-grey backs and silvery-white breasts. They were very nervous of the ship, rising in great numbers when it had approached within a few hundred yards. One startled bird would fly up, followed by several more; then a whole covey would disturb the rest of the flock. Hamilton managed to shoot two of them from the fo'c'sle, and, after much manoeuvring, we secured one with a long hand-net.
Soon after, there was a cry of "killer whales!" from the stern. Schools of them were travelling from the west to the east along the edge of the pack. The water was calm and leaden, and every few seconds a big black triangular fin would project from the surface, there would be a momentary glimpse of a dark yellow-blotched back and then all would disappear.
We pushed into the pack to "ice ship," as the water-supply was running low. Just as the 'Aurora' was leaving the open water, a school of finner whales went by, blowing high jets of spray in sudden blasts, wallowing for a few seconds on the surface, and diving in swirls of foam. These finners or rorquals are enormous mammals, and on one occasion we were followed by one for several hours. It swam along with the ship, diving regularly underneath from one side to another, and we wondered what would happen if it had chosen to charge the vessel or to investigate the propeller.
Close to a big floe to which the ship was secured, two crab-eater seals were shot and hauled aboard to be skinned and investigated by the biologists and bacteriologist. When the scientists had finished their work, the meat and blubber were cut up for the dogs, while the choicer steaks were taken to the cook's galley.
After lunch every one started to "ice ship" in earnest. The sky had cleared and the sun was warm and brilliant by the time a party had landed on the snow-covered floe with baskets, picks and shovels. When the baskets had been filled, they were hoisted by hand-power on to a derrick which had been fixed to the mizen mast, swung inboard and then shovelled into a melting tank alongside the engine-room. The melter was a small tank through which ran a coil of steam pipes. The ice came up in such quantity that it was not melted in time to keep up with the demand, so a large heap was made on the deck.
Later in the afternoon it was found that holes chipped in the sea-ice to a depth of six or eight inches filled quickly with fresh water, and soon a gang of men had started a service with buckets and dippers between these pools and the main hatch where the water was poured through funnels into the ship's tanks. The bulwarks on the port side of the main hatch had been taken down, and a long plank stretched across to the floe. At nine o'clock work was stopped and we once more resumed our western cruise.
It was found that as the region of Queen Mary Land approached, heavy pack extended to the north. While skirting this obstacle, we disclosed by soundings a steep rise in the ocean's floor from a depth of about fifteen hundred fathoms to within seven hundred fathoms of the surface, south of which there was deep water. It was named "Bruce Rise" in recognition of the oceanographical work of the Scottish Expedition in Antarctic seas.
On the 17th, in latitude 62 degrees 21' S., longitude 95 degrees 9' E., the course ran due south for more than seven hours. For the two ensuing days the ship was able to steer approximately south-west through slackening ice, until on the 19th at midday we were in latitude 64 degrees 59' S., longitude 90 degrees 8' E. At length it appeared that land was approaching, after a westward run of more than twelve hundred miles. Attempts to reach the charted position of Totten's Land, North's Land, Budd Land and Knox Land had been successively abandoned when it became evident that the pack occupied a more northerly situation than that of the two previous years, and was in most instances thick and impenetrable.