A Million Penguins Keep Them Company

Chronicle (Levin), 8 December 1949, Page 7

A Million Penguins Keep Them Company

WELLINGTON, Uec. 7. Tlie sliip's t-ompany of the frigate. Tutira, which reached Welington today from the far soutli weather stations, consider they sail in a lucky ship. So far as they know it is the only vesse: to call at the storm swept Macqnarie [sland, 1000 miles south of Wellington in cairn weather. "We ha\d to make 10 boat landingt to get the stores ashore," said the ship's officers. " Apart from heavy going through the kelp which lies oft the shingle beach, we had little troubie. The beach is usually lashed by heavy surf and gales which reached 100 miles an hour battered the last ship to cab there. She was an Australian Nav.\ tank landing ship which lay off the island for days awaiting a landing. For us the major obstacle ashore was sea elephants. These Jiuge creatures lay all over the beach. We had to pick a pathway through them." A recent census of the wild lilt' population had sliowed there wert48,000 sea elephants on the island. Tney congregated in huge herds on the island 's few beaches. Besides these massive mammals the weather station crew of seven had 1,000,000 penguins to kee.p them company. These . were subjects for research by the scientists who accompanied the ship on her voyage south. Before landing five tons of stores and Christmas mai! at Macquarie Island, the Tutira ealled at Campbell Island slightly further south. "The New Zealand weathermen were glad to see us, the first ship in five months," said the ship's navigating offieer. "We brought them the first real vegetables they naa seen since a ship l.ast called. Their own garihms of soil imported from New Zealand, were not producing very weli. The fcigh winds have blown some away. ' ' .