November 8, 1996

Weddell seal mother and pup.

Having stayed up most of the night for another marathon of recording, I managed to sleep in until 8:00am. There was no wind today. I got up and made the rounds of the ice holes--nearly two inches of ice to chip away. I shuffled over to the kitchen where the agenda was being set for the day: more pup tagging and some retagging to do, and more blood samples to be taken. A crabeater seal had been spotted at Tent Island and a couple of the guys were going to take measurements and a blood sample. The temperature gradually rose to a balmy 30 degrees and there was absolutely no wind to speak of. This was a rare and wonderful opportunity to do some surface recording. The seal pups had been on the ice since birth and the two to three-week olds were learning how to swim. I spent an hour recording a pup who was desperately trying to get out of the water. It would cry and moan and the mother would respond and try to coax it out. This went on for a few hours as the mother patiently went in and out of the water, exploring different holes along the tidal crack and then trying to level existing cracks and widen them. The pup grew tired and rested at the edge before struggling out. Leaving home is hard! Pups pleaded, mothers bellowed, skuas flew overhead and a rock fall echoed across Erebus Bay...

Click to hear a sample of Weddell seal mothers and pups