148 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



in South Africa, and there have been other occasions when members of the scientific 

 staff have been detached for special duty. Observations at whahng stations have thus 

 been made at Durban in Natal and at Deception Island in the South Shetlands, while 

 in the season 1927-8 a member of the staff accompanied the whaling factory 'Anglo- 

 Norse' to the South Sandwich Islands — a region which had previously been little 

 exploited by the whalers. The whales taken round these islands were examined, so far 

 as was practicable, and some information obtained on the plankton and hydrology of 

 the area. During the present season (1928-9) another member of the stafi^ is on board 

 the 'C. A. Larsen', a large whaling factory working in the Ross Sea. 



Certain other work undertaken during the course of the investigations remains to be 

 noticed. 



Notwithstanding the number of expeditions which have undertaken oceanographic 

 research in the south, the Antarctic still remains an unrivalled field for scientific efli'ort. 

 Since the primary aim of the investigations was an economic one, priority of place had 

 evidently to be given to enquiries which might lead to immediately useful results ; but 

 it was recognized that occasions would arise when work in other directions could 

 profitably be undertaken without detriment to the main objects of research, and 

 it was the wish of the Committee that full use should be made of such oppor- 

 tunities. 



The examination of the plankton conditions on the whaling grounds was already an 

 important part of the programme of the ' Discovery ', and in deciding what use might be 

 inade of occasions for work of a less obviously practical nature it was natural to consider 

 an extension of these operations. The more strictly economic results were to be sought 

 in the upper layers of the water, and work at greater depths, while it might also prove 

 to have practical value, would without doubt result in a material increase in our know- 

 ledge of the biology of southern waters. When opportunity permitted, plankton nets, 

 up to 4^ metres in diameter of movith, were accordingly used at all depths, and by 

 this means a large amount of valuable material has been accumulated during the two 

 years of the first commission. 



An examination of the bottom fauna was evidently less relevant to the main purpose 

 of the work, and it was decided that deep-sea trawling, which necessarily involves a great 

 expenditure of time, could not be undertaken. The ' Discovery' was, however, supplied 

 with a 40 ft. otter trawl and dredges, to be used in shallow water when circumstances 

 allowed. The weather in the south is frequently unsuitable for off-shore work, and on 

 a number of occasions the rich bottom fauna of the sheltered coastal waters of the 

 Dependencies has been explored. 



The 'William Scoresby', as has already been mentioned, was designed to carry a 

 full-sized commercial otter trawl and the main purpose of this equipment was an 

 exainination of the supplies of fish on the submarine plateau situated between the 

 Falkland Islands and the South American coast. There are grounds for the belief that 

 fish exist in marketable quantities in this area, and a survey was planned in the hope that 

 it might result in the establishment of a trawling industry in the locality. The 'William 



