I had heard weird stories of these beasts, but had never associated serious danger with them.

Close to the water's edge lay the wire stern rope of the ship, and our two Esquimaux dogs were tethered to this.

I did not think of connecting the movements of the whales with this fact, and seeing them so close I shouted to Ponting, who was standing abreast of the ship.

He seized his camera and ran towards the floe edge to get a close picture of the beasts, which had momentarily disappeared.

The next moment the whole floe under him and the dogs heaved up and split into fragments.