Bay of Whales
Shirase now decided to divide the expedition into two parts. One party would land at the Bay of Whales and form a "Dash Patrol" that would make a southern march across the Barrier, with the dogs. Meanwhile, "Kainan Maru" would take a second party to King Edward VII Land, where it would land and explore. This decided, the ship turned westward towards the Bay of Whales; as they approached, they found to their astonishment that another ship was there. After an initial speculation about pirates, they saw as they drew nearer that the ship was flying the Norwegian flag, and realised that this was Amundsen's ship, "Fram". Thick sea ice had formed in the inner part of the bay, so "Kainan Maru" could not approach the Barrier edge, and had to moor to the ice some distance away.