Seals were the main source of fresh meat (and blubber for fuel for the fire) for the Ross Sea Party. Penguins also supplemented their diet.
This supply of fresh meat both complemented their meagre food supplies and staved off scurvy. The men also ate penguin eggs, a welcome delicacy amidst their usually grim diet. In 1916 they collected a staggering 3150 eggs from Cape Royds rookery (Ross Island).
On the day of rescue Keith Jack noted with relief in his diary: "...no more slaughtering of innocent seals..."