ON MIGHTY SCALE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 81, 17 March 1933, Page 8

ON MIGHTY SCALE

ANTARCTIC REGIONS THE MAWSON EXPEDITION. AUSTRALIA'S NEW LAND. “What first strikes the eye in the Antarctic is the immense distances. Everything is on a mighty scale,” remarked Mr R. A. Falla, of the Auckland Museum, who went to the South Polar regions with the noted explorer bir Douglas Mawson in the capacity •f ornithologist. Control of part of the territory on which Sir Douglas hoisted the Australian Ensign lias been Tested in the Commonwealth Government. Accustomed as the eye the average man was to ordinary distances, broken By the ordinary aspects of a landscape, the sight of great distances of nothing but snow was, to say the least of it, unusual, Mr Falla remarked. Then •gain, the coastline for mile after mile was rugged to a point beyond grandeur. Ice chffs. themselves 200 ft. to 1001 1. in height, would be dwarfed by huge monoliths of stone which reared themselves, dead black against snow •hite, some 2000 ft. in the air. UNKNOWN HINTERLAND. It was in 1840 the same year as the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, that Ross discovered the sea which bears his name, said Mr Falla, and New Zealand had been interested in that portion of the continent. After that date the major expeditions ot Scott, Amundsen, •nd Byrd had made the Ross sea their base. Even then however, there had remained a large hinterland of the Antarctic continent which was unknown. The exploration of one part of that hinterland, that section lying to the south of Australia, had been the main eoncern of recent expeditions, in par. ticular those of Sir Douglas Mawson, who began his work before the war. In 1929, said Mr Falla, Mawson was asked to lead a well-equipped expedition for further work in that area ; and after two seasons in the far South in Scott’s old ship, the Discovery, the expedition returned to Australia with important new information and a large •niount of valuable scientific work done. ‘•Recent cables have stated that, after Mawson had interviewed His Majesty in London and discussed the results of the expedition with the Dominions Secretary, Mr J. H. Thomas, the British Government has approved the Commonwealth exercising jurisdiction over the new area, which extends from Enderby Land in 45 degrees east Jongtitude to King George V. land in 160 degrees jongtitude. This is a vast stretch of coastline, and behind it the continent reaches back some hundreds •f miles to the South Pole.

W ORK OF PHOTOGRAPHERS. The area includes many features of •triking interests from the scenic point of view, from scientific investigation and economic possibilities. Moreover, the expedition was fortunate enough to have as its official photographer Cap. tain Frank Hurley, who has accompanted many expeditions to the Antarctic, including that of Shackleton. The pnotographic records secured are of exceptional value in giving an accurate idea of the territory and of the conditions of life there. The pictures have exploited to the full the majesty of polar scenery, with its eternal ice and rugged, rock-bound coast. They depict extremes of polar weather, with its blizzards and subsequent calms that transform it to a seeming fairyland; they have put on record for all time the teeming life in the Polar seas, the comedy of the penguins, the lives and the habits of seals and the great whales. A striking feature of life in the Antarctic is that innumerable penguins and vast numbers of seals and whales can exist in that region, where the land is barren and the seas icebound for the greater part of the year. The explanation is found in the abundance of ma nne organisms of minute size, which •re present in the summer season in •uch quantities as to render the surface of the water literally teeming with them, just like soup. In turn the explanation of the presence of these organisms lies in the fact of continued daylight, under the influence of which microscopic plants multiply rapidly, providing food for the myriads of shrimp-like creatures, which in turn aie fed on by fish, birds, seals and even the great whales.

Mr Falla said that an investigation of the habits of whales formed part of the programme of the expedition, and the results were to be used in conjunction with the investigations of the Discovery Committee, which was permanently engaged in that work. “It is realised,” said Mr Falla, “that a sound knowledge of the biology of whales is necessary for the drafting of regulations to prevent their extermination •nd to safeguard the industry in tho future.” BIRDS USE AIR CURRENTS. As an ornithlogist. Mr Falla was interested primarily in the bird life, with which the region abounded. He had studied the petrels, with their remarkable powers of sustained Hight. They flew very largely over the sea, •nd when they appeared to be gliding into tho face of the wind it was likely that they wero using the counter-cur-rents and tho “up-draughts” of air from the disturbed surface of the water or the irregularity of the ice. He explained that when a bird flew close to the surface of tho water, it was more likely to receive the benefit of the wind “refracted” upward, and serving as a continuous upthrust to them. “From what I have said, it might seem that the expedition was without untoward incident. But there was more in it than merely going down there with modern equipment, aeroplanes, stores and so on. There was more than enough to provide many a •tor v of narrow escapes, of humour, ■nd of hazardous undertakings.”