As sperm whales became scarcer, whaleships sailed further north in the Pacific. When Thomas Welcome Roys, master of the Sag Harbor, New York, ship Superior sailed into the Bering Sea in , he discovered a large population of bowhead whales and launched the era of Arctic whaling.
Hungry for baleen Baleen strips made of keratin that are found in the mouths of baleen whales instead of teeth was used for:. A new enemy Although the Arctic bowhead did not fight as fiercely as the sperm whale, whalemen had to cope with a savage environment.
Good timing was critical. Whaleships reached the Arctic in mid-summer when the ice had melted enough to permit passage and had to sail out in late summer to avoid getting trapped in the ice. By , as whales were becoming harder to find, the Arctic fleet had only twenty vessels.
Twelve ships were lost that year, and there were other, smaller losses to ice in later years. The names of the vessels lost in were:. As the price of baleen rose during the s, an increasing number of auxiliary steam-powered whaleships joined the traditional fleet in hunting for bowheads.
These new whalers could enter dangerous waters and get out again, unlike their sail-powered cousins. They were not invulnerable, however, and the North Star was crushed in ice on its maiden voyage.
Often, a ship was left with only a shipkeeper aboard until it was overhauled in spring for departure directly to the Arctic. However, by a number of whaleships were wintering in the Arctic. Preparing for a rigorous journey A ship had to be in top-notch condition to winter in the Arctic. The entire journey would take two and a half years, so the ship was loaded with tons of supplies, food, and equipment.
Herschel Island Around , whalemen had discovered that Herschel Island in the Arctic had a good harbor and that whales were plentiful in the area. The island was a hub of whaling activity from to Men, women, children, dogs A whaleship that planned to spend the winter at Herschel Island in the Arctic might carry an unusual crew:.
Settling down for winter: After leaving supplies at Herschel around mid- August; ships sailed west for a few weeks of hunting whales. As whaling tapered off, the ships headed for Pauline Cove by the beginning of October to prepare for the freeze. Social life in an isolated place As the ice closed in, everyone on the ships faced boredom and loneliness from October until the following May — eight long months.
With five hundred men housed in close quarters, problems were inevitable. There were reports of drinking, desertion, and fighting, although the men also played baseball and soccer, skied on the ice, and put on plays and minstrel shows. A soothing presence The presence of women and children seemed to reduce tensions. The wives organized card parties, dances, birthday and holiday celebrations. The cabins were often decorated with lanterns and colored lights.
At one gathering, a three-piece band played and ice cream, cake, beer, and cigars were served. Preparing to sail again During the spring, crews prepared their ships for whaling. The ice began to break up in Pauline Cove in the middle of June and by early July, the ships could begin another voyage. A holiday interlude The celebration of the Fourth of July on Herschel Island began with dressing the ships in all their flags and firing salutes to begin a day of tug-of- war, races, baseball, and shooting contests for whalemen and native people.
After months in the ice, ships usually began their hunt for whales around July 10th. The end of an era Arctic whaling represented the last hurrah of the American industry. As the demand for baleen diminished, the industry was doomed. Yankee whaling methods in the early 19th century were fundamentally unchanged from those employed by the medieval Norse Vikings, with later improvements by Spanish and French Basques. The Vikings hunted right whales along shore and devised an arsenal of harpoons, lances, and butchering techniques, with rigorous laws to regulate the fishery.
In the 17th century, to facilitate processing blubber on the open sea, the Basques were experimenting with onboard tryworks oil cookeries. Basque hirelings passed along their time-tested methods to Dutch, British, and other European Arctic whalers in the early 17th century, and it was these same methods that were brought to the American colonies by Dutch and English settlers. The carcass was towed to the mother ship, where it was cut in butchered , the blubber tried out rendered into oil , and the whalebone baleen cleaned and stowed; after which the hunt would resume.
Any improvements in the 19th century tended to be refinements of this basic technology, rather than true innovations. However, refinements were many and significant. The ships, barks, and schooners used in Yankee whaling were highly adapted to their special functions, the result of centuries of refinement.
Harpoons benefited from improvements in the steel itself and from advances in design—notably the toggling grommet harpoon, introduced circa , and especially the revolutionary Temple toggle harpoon, invented by African-American shipsmith Lewis Temple of New Bedford in , which dramatically increased efficiency and minimized losses.
Rocket guns, adapted from military use —long tubes that rested on the shoulder for firing, not unlike the antitank bazookas of the 20th century—were introduced to whaling around Experimental guns to shoot harpoons, rather than wield them by hand, appeared in England as early as , but it was not until that British gunsmith William W. Greener produced a truly effective bow-mounted, swiveling harpoon cannon: his Greener gun earned tenacious popularity with British and American whalers throughout the remainder of the 19th century.
Competitive devices were invented in New England: shoulder guns, which look like conventional heavy-gauge rifles and fired an exploding bomb lance New Bedford, ; a bow-mounted swivel gun with improved mounting and recoil properties Norwich, Connecticut, ; a combination harpoon, lance, and bomb lance called a darting gun New Bedford, ; and brass and bronze shoulder guns that were characteristically more durable in Arctic cold than their iron and steel precursors.
Plan Your Visit Purchase Tickets. Traveling Online In Cabo Verde. Search Museum Collections. Explore Museum Publications. Accessibility Careers Contact. Financials Strategic Plan. News Releases In the News. Join Individuals and Families Institutions and Libraries. Give to the Museum Donate Now. Whales and Hunting Learn which whales were hunted and why; how they captured and processed them; how technology changed the industry. Whales and Hunting. Why Hunted? KWM In Men and Whales , Richard Ellis writes that, until the beginning of the twentieth-century, whaling was considered an admirable occupation.
Baleen Whales suborder Mysticeti Baleen whales do not have teeth. Black Whale North Atlantic right: Eubalaena glacialis ; Southern right: Eubalaena australis ; North Pacific right: Eubalaena japonica Growing up to 60 feet long and weighing up to tons, these animals provided the backbone of the American commercial whale fishery from their early colonial shore-side exploitation until the end of the nineteenth century.
Bowhead Whale Balaena mysticetus Grows to about 60 feet in length and weighs tons or more; Prized by whalemen for quantity and quality of its blubber and baleen; Carries the thickest blubber of any whale inches , an adaptation to the icy Arctic waters in which the species lives; Possesses longest to 14 feet and largest number of baleen plates.
The Humpback was one of the five species normally hunted by the Yankee whalers, although it was the least desirable since it sank about half the time after being killed and its baleen was useless. Blue Whale Balaenoptera musculus Grows to a length of feet and weighs up to tons The biggest creature that ever lived. Because of intensive whaling in the 20th century, the Blue Whale has been left as one of the most endangered species.
It was never hunted by the Yankee whaleman because it was considered too fast, too big, and because it invariably sank when killed. Fin Whale Balaenoptera physalus Grows from 60 to 85 feet long and weighs up to 80 tons; Considered one of the fastest of marine mammals, swimming at estimated speeds of up to 25 miles per hour; Not hunted by whalers in the age of sail — harpoons became dislodged due to its swimming speed and, like its close relative, the blue whale, it usually sank when killed.
How Whales Were Captured The long search The great whales roamed the oceans in search of food: Krill masses of tiny, shrimp-like organisms that float near the surface of the water ; Small fish and squid; Giant squid, often consumed by sperm whales in chunks nearly half the size of a whaleboat.
What kind of whale? The frenzy of the hunt The business of whaling was filled with long hours of boredom, although the moment when the whaleboats were launched and the chase began was filled with the frenzied excitement of a hunt. The listening prey It was not simply a matter of rowing fast, reaching the whale, and making a kill. The whale iron As the whaleboat glided closer, the harpooneer picked up his weapon. Smoking line The whale usually dove, taking down with it the embedded harpoon.
Fast to the whale When the whale came up to breathe, it often swam on the surface, at speeds of over twenty miles per hour for a sperm whale. The flurry As the whaleboat backed off again, the crew observed the awesome spectacle of the death of the whale. Towing Leviathan After hours of tremendous exertion, the whaleboat crew still had work to do. Unsuccessful chases Not all pursuits ended in the death of the whale. Critics claim that this exception is merely a cover for whaling for meat or oil and that killing whales is unnecessary for research or conservation.
While this article is focused on how whales have been affected by extensive hunting during the whaling era it is important to point out that dolphins have also been hunted by poachers looking to sell their meat or use it for bait. Because dolphins are much smaller than whales they were much less likely to be hunted and attacked during the whaling era as they provided much less oil from their blubber than the larger whale species, however they were and still are hunted for other reasons.
In some cases dolphin meat has even been found in sold cans of tuna as a filler for tuna meat or mixed in with other types of fish products. Dolphins have also been hunted so that their meat could be used as bait by fishermen looking to attract other marine animals they were hunting. And some species were killed by poachers and fishermen that were looking to lower their competition for hunting fish or because the dolphins were interfering with their fishing equipment.
As with the whale species dolphins are now considered a protected species and hunting them is illegal in numerous countries.
Those who signed into the international agreement complied to follow its policies, however over the years some countries have disbanded from the agreement and have begun hunting again. Other countries have adopted their own policies for policing the hunting of whales and limit which species of whale can be hunted and how many of that species can be killed yearly.
While not completely stopping commercial whaling these countries try to create a balance between the whaling industry and the re-population of whales.
Due to the creation of alternative resources whale blubber is no longer needed for oil so most hunting that does occur today is the result of hunting whales for their meat which is sold to restaurants, meat markets and supermarkets where it can be sold for human consumption. Fortunately most species of whale still remain in existence today due to the banning of commercial whaling in various parts of the world.
Although unauthorized commercial whaling is likely to continue for a long time it appears that this trend is declining as certain countries continue to lose profits due continually declining interests.
As the commercial whaling industry came to an end during the 20th century a new industry known as whale watching began to emerge. Since its inception the whale watching industry has grown to a billion dollar annual business hiring thousands of employees and serving millions of customers each year.
Whale watchers pay tour boats to bring them out to sea where they can catch a glimpse of these amazing marine mammals living their lives. Both Japan and Norway voted against this policy. Today, Norway supports hunting minke whales for meat. Japan allows whaling for scientific purposes, although many experts question if more whales are taken than are necessary. Meat from whales killed for research is sold as food.
Despite the general moratorium, limited whaling is permitted to indigenous culture s. Tribe of the Sea The sea plays a large role in the culture and history of the Makah people, native to the Pacific coast of the U.
Skilled mariners, the Makah carved specific canoes for each task. War, whaling, salmon fishing, sealing, and transporting cargo each required a different canoe. In , devastated by successive outbreaks of smallpox and facing pressure from the U. Among other things, the treaty protected the tribe's whaling rights for future generations in exchange for , acres of tribal land.
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