The mystery surrounding a 90-year-old Royal Penguin egg (Eudyptes schlegeli), recently discovered in a dusty cupboard in the Zoology Museum at Aberdeen University, has finally been solved.
Museum Curator Dr Martyn Gorman has uncovered a fascinating story connecting Aberdeen and the North-east with the heroic and dangerous epic Antarctic expeditions of the early twentieth century.
The egg had been collected on Macquarie Island, the only place in the world where Royal Penguins breed, and on it were the letters AAE, the initials L.R.B and the date 20.10.12. It turns out that the initials belonged to cartographer and geologist Leslie R Blake, a member of the 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition.
The main objective of the AAE was to investigate and chart as far as possible, a stretch of unexplored and essentially unknown 2,000 miles of Antarctic coastline, as well as the scientific examination of Macquarie Island, which lies 850 miles south-south-east of Hobart. Five members of the expedition, including Leslie Blake, remained on the island for a year where they set up a radio-relay station as well as carrying out scientific research. The rest of the team along with its leader, the Australian geologist Douglas Mawson, moved on to the Antarctic mainland.
Dr Gorman has no idea how the egg came to be in Aberdeen, but emphasises that the University of Aberdeen has long had connections with Antarctic Research, and still does to this day. The present Chief Scientist of the Australian Antarctic Division is Professor Michael Stoddart, a graduate of the University and former flatmate of Dr Gorman’s.
“I found the egg lying in a cupboard, literally under the stairs, in the museum store. I have always been fascinated by Antarctic exploration and on seeing the date 1912 I instantly realised that I had in my hand a relic of those heroic days.
“With the help of modern technology, in the form of the Internet, I was able quickly to determine on which expedition the egg was taken, to discover the name of the man who collected it and to find photographs that he taken of penguins, perhaps the very one that laid our egg, back in 1912.
“How Blake’s penguin egg came to be in Aberdeen we have no idea, but our connections with Antarctic Research are long. For example, in 1921, Lord Northcliffe, owner of the Daily Mail, ran a nationwide advertisement for a Boy Scout to go South with Sir Ernest Shackleton. 1,700 Scouts applied from which Baden Powell chose 10 for interview by Shackleton. One of the two selected was James Marr, a Zoology student at Aberdeen University. In later years, Marr returned to the far South as a marine biologist and became the scientific authority on krill. After that he played a big part in setting up today’s British Antarctic Survey.
“Marr is just one of several prominent Aberdeen scientists who went on to play a leading role in protecting and observing the wildlife of the Antarctic. In another coincidence, Mawson’s expedition vessel, the Aurora, was purchased from the Newfoundland sealing fleet, but was actually built in Dundee.”
The egg is now on display at the University’s Zoology Museum, which is open to the public Monday to Friday 9-5pm. The museum’s website contains more fascinating information about the egg and Aberdeen’s many connections with the Antarctic expeditions. It can be found at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/zoology/lrblake.htm
Further information from Martyn Gorman, Zoology Museum Curator, on: (01224) 272850. He will be available for interview and picture opportunities all day.
Issued by Public Relations Office, External Relations, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen. Tel: 01224 272014 Fax: 01224 272086.
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-272960 or email a.begg@abdn.ac.uk.