350 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



30° 



ISO" 



W 180'E 



130° 



Fig. 103. Gross distribution of total eggs and larvae. Ice-edge September-October mean. 



however, exist is not altogether impossible, for in the second half of March, as Fig. 104 shows, 

 the volume of the phytoplankton in the Weddell drift, on which the larvae have hitherto been well 

 nourished, decreasing suddenly, has practically reached its winter minimum, a major decline in food 

 supply that could conceivably lead to a postponement of the final moult until later in the year. 

 Evidence that there occasionally is such postponement is provided in Fig. 95 by three instances 

 (Stations 2863, 2864 and WS 263) where in Weddell Middle and on the South Georgia whaling 



