History of Bermuda shore whaling, mainly for humpback whales

Abstract

From its first colonisation in the early 1600s, Bermuda was known as a potentially profitable whaling site. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) were common in coastal waters during the late winter and spring (March-May); sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), in offshore waters probably throughout much of the year. Initial efforts at shore whaling in 1616-17 were not very successful but whaling continued at least intermittently until 1685 when Bermuda became a Crown Colony and the whaling industry was placed on a firm footing. The shore whaling industry in Bermuda was never particularly large or profitable. Although it continued into the 20th century and was episodically re-invigorated with new financing and equipment, shore whaling never met the high expectations of those who invested in it. In the 1780s and for several decades thereafter, a few whaling voyages sailed from Bermuda for distant whaling grounds in the South Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, targeting sperm whales and right whales (Eubalaena spp.). There is no evidence to suggest that local catches by Bermudian shore whalers exceeded more than a few tens of whales per year, the vast majority of them humpback whales.