In September 2016, the conference on “Historical Antarctic Sealing Industry” was held at Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) and in June 2018, the book with the conference proceedings has been published. Because of the discipline of the conference contributors in submitting their chapters and the hard work of the two editors, Bob Headland and Bryan Lintott, it is now available. Soon, there will be an online version available which I will promote as well. My chapter in this book is on “Survival and Science: Early Antarctic Explorers and Sealing” (pp 121 – 129). I am very pleased with the appearance of the book and I hope it will become a sort of textbook in the future. Bob Headland provided in the appendixes valuable information on “Peri-Antarctic Islands and the Southern Ocean Sealing Industries” (pp 166 – 170) and the “Antarctic Sealing Voyages (1786 – 1922)” (pp 171 – 223). The conference has demonstrated that sealing has many aspects and is an important part of social history and the history of the Southern Ocean industry and this is reflected in the book.
Weddell seal, laying around peacefully (picture was taken December 2014)
Dr Ursula Rack 