Field science:
Collecting the specimens
Hamilton recorded sightings and where possible collected examples of different animal and plant species, including ‘a splendid collection of skins’ (as Mawson later noted). He recorded and described 34 vascular plant species (three of them endemic), and built a collection of eggs of virtually all the island’s bird species.
AAE','Leopard seal, with Sawyer in the background. Hamilton collected 19 of these seals for museum specimens over the two years of the AAE',''); return false;" href="http://images.aad.gov.au/img.py/22dc.jpg?width=800&height=534"> 
Leopard seal, with Sawyer in the background. Hamilton collected 19 of these seals for museum specimens over the two years of the AAE
|
Pleuropbyllum hookeri (Silver leaf daisy) in flower
|
Hamilton also studied the life history and ecology of the world’s largest seal, the southern elephant seal. From the stomach contents of killed animals he reported cephalopods and (to a lesser extent) fish. But apart from the odd excursion in the inter-tidal zone he was unable collect marine specimens until September 1912, when Rachel Cohen delivered a dinghy, which he used for collecting and transporting specimens whenever the weather was calm enough.
The specimens were crucial to future studies back home. Hamilton was especially proud of his eggs and ‘a splendid collection of skins’, as Mawson described them later. But the effort was threatened by the discovery of damage by rats and mildew in the Isthmus storage, resulting in him having to overhaul the whole collection and re-prepare some of the skins.
Hamilton and an albino giant petrel. ©Mitchell Collection State Library of NSW. photo Charles Sandell
Another collector came ashore during the two winters: Edgar Waite, Curator of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch. He twice visited the island from Aurora for short visits from May to July 1912, and again in August 1913 during the Tutanekai relief visit.
