25 o DISCOVERY REPORTS 



which was often awash, and climbing again to the fo'c'sle head. A canvas dodger was 

 fitted to the rails of the fo'c'sle head and reduced considerably the exposure experienced 

 during the long periods spent in this position whilst in pursuit of whales. It was neces- 

 sary to furl the dodger during rougher weather, when seas broke over the bows, at 

 those times when additional protection would have been greatly appreciated; but for the 

 most part marking was impracticable under the conditions in which this shelter was 

 removed. 



Besides the ship's normal complement of twenty officers and men, all of whom were, 

 of course, British, the ' William Scoresby ' carried one scientific officer in charge, and 

 during the first two whale-marking commissions a professional Norwegian whale 

 gunner who took charge of the ship when the chasing and marking of whales was in 

 progress. In the later commissions this work devolved upon the scientific and executive 



officers. 



For whale-marking around South Georgia a modern whale-catcher was hired com- 

 plete with a Norwegian gunner and crew from one of the companies operating around 

 the island. On board the whale-catcher the marking was done from the gun platform. 

 In order to give some protection to the markers in this exposed situation empty 

 90-gallon drums were securely lashed in the angles of the gun platform. Small canvas 

 dodgers were fitted to these drums and the marker ensconced himself therein, thus 

 avoiding some of the wind and spray to which he would otherwise have been 

 exposed. A member of the Committee's scientific staff was in charge of these cruises. 



Upon the scientific officer, besides the general planning of the work in the field, fell 

 the duty of making all notes and observations during the course of marking. This 

 essentially consisted of the recording of the serial number and result of each mark fired, 

 the species of whale marked and the date and position of marking. The result of each 

 shot fired can be decided with considerable confidence, for after a very little experience 

 the flight of the mark can be followed with the eye. At first the result of each shot was 

 recorded according to an elaborate scheme containing many possibilities, for we were 

 not then familiar with the behaviour of the mark. Eventually it was found possible to 

 reduce this elaborate scheme so that a mark fired was considered to result in a hit, a 

 possible hit, a miss or a ricochet. On very rare occasions a mark so far escaped observa- 

 tion that it was impossible to decide what had become of it ; in these circumstances the 

 result was recorded as "no verdict". 



No fewer than five of the Discovery scientific staff have served in charge of whale- 

 marking cruises and minor individual variation in the recording of observations is 

 naturally to be expected. 



SCOPE OF THE MARKING ACCOMPLISHED 



The complete programme of marking carried out by the Discovery Committee with 

 this tube pattern of mark covers no less than eight separate expeditions. The first one, 

 1932-33, was of an experimental nature and was carried out from South Georgia, 



