Whaling Industry Research Articles

Between Whale Teeth and the Moral Uses of the Sea: Considering Religion in the US Whaling Industry’s Extractive Zone

This article argues that the nineteenth century US whaling industry provides an oceanic perspective on extractive zones that illuminates their multi-sited, multiscalar nature where the local and global are deeply entangled. Further, I suggest that viewing this process through the underexamined lens of religion can contribute to a fuller understanding of the widespread, often neglected, impacts of extractivism. I take an 1845 sermon by liberal Protestant theologian Horace Bushnell, “A Discourse on the Moral Uses of the Sea,” read alongside the labors of the American whaling industry, as a mid-nineteenth century moment to consider the concealment of the natural resource extraction that is necessary for the production of the conditions of possibility for the imagination of “civilization” ideologically and theologically in the mid-nineteenth century. I look to the journey of whale teeth as they move between waste, items of trade in a global capitalist market, and powerful ritual objects in Fiji, assessing how the extractive zone as a contact zone also transforms religion, which in turn can be a location of agency and resistance. The article calls attention to the critical entanglements of indigenous and settler worlds, whose stories cannot be told separately from one another.

Diversity of mitochondrial DNA in 3 species of great whales before and after modern whaling.

The 20th century commercial whaling industry severely reduced populations of great whales throughout the Southern Hemisphere. The effect of this exploitation on genetic diversity and population structure remains largely undescribed. Here, we compare pre- and post-whaling diversity of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences for 3 great whales in the South Atlantic, such as the blue, humpback, and fin whale. Pre-whaling diversity is described from mtDNA extracted from bones collected near abandoned whaling stations, primarily from the South Atlantic island of South Georgia. These bones are known to represent the first stage of 20th century whaling and thus pre-whaling diversity of these populations. Post-whaling diversity is described from previously published studies reporting large-scale sampling of living whales in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite relatively high levels of surviving genetic diversity in the post-whaling populations, we found evidence of a probable loss of mtDNA lineages in all 3 species. This is evidenced by the detection of a large number of haplotypes found in the pre-whaling samples that are not present in the post-whaling samples. A rarefaction analysis further supports a loss of haplotypes in the South Atlantic humpback and Antarctic blue whale populations. The bones from former whaling stations in the South Atlantic represent a remarkable molecular archive for further investigation of the decline and ongoing recovery in the great whales of the Southern Hemisphere.

Past and present utilisation of marine mammals in Grenada, West Indies

The exploitation of marine mammals in Grenada dates back to pre-Columbian times. Whaling ships visited Grenadian waters in the 19th century and during the 1920s there was a short-lived attempt to develop a local, modern whaling industry. Since then no exploitative interactions between Grenadians and marine mammals had taken place, until the 1990s when two whalewatching operations were established.

Beyond Greenland: Other aspects of Georgian Liverpool's whaling trade

Most of the existing research on Georgian Liverpool's whaling activities has focused on the northern whaling trade around the Arctic and Greenland. However, this article sheds new light by exploring the port's other whaling activities – namely, the southern whale fishery. In doing so, this short research note expands the geography of Liverpool's whaling industry and suggests that it may have had ties to the port's most notorious activity – transatlantic slavery.

History of Bermuda shore whaling, mainly for humpback whales

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.

Racial Diversity and Team Performance: Evidence from the American Offshore Whaling Industry

Racial Diversity and Team Performance: Evidence from the American Offshore Whaling Industry

Baleias e Império: os Estados Unidos e a expansão baleeira nos mares do Atlântico Sul (1761-1844)

Este artigo analisa a expansão baleeira norte-americana, ocorrida entre o final do século XVIII e a primeira metade do XIX, em direção ao litoral brasileiro. Foram escrutinadas fontes em dois arquivos e museus da Nova Inglaterra, o Mystic Sea Port e o Whaling Museum. No primeiro, consultamos as relações de viagens baleeiras ocorridas entre a segunda metade do século XVIII até 1920. Também arrolamos documentos avulsos, cartas de marinheiros e comandantes, relações de embarcações e informações sobre os portos da região. No Whaling Museum analisamos logbooks de viagens ao Brasil, cartas náuticas, mapas e fontes avulsas. Na Gazeta de New Bedford, levantamos informações sobre expedições à costa brasileira realizadas entre 1843 e 1845, os balanços da produção de óleo de baleia, espermacete de cachalotes e ossos de baleias. Foram examinadas e sistematizadas informações sobre os comandantes, as embarcações e suas rotas, além de dados quantitativos a respeito de baleias e cetáceos abatidos no litoral brasileiro. Por fim, destacamos o grande peso da indústria baleeira americana naquela conjuntura de afirmação do capitalismo e globalização da economia.

New Scholarship

New Scholarship

Boarding: Black Women in Nantucket Generating Income and Building Community

AbstractThis article addresses Black women's economic roles in nineteenth‐century Nantucket, Massachusetts, during the island's ascendency as the center of a global whaling industry. Much of the existing scholarship highlights men's participation in the whaling industry, while Black women's contributions remain obscured. I use two main lines of evidence to interpret Black women's working lives: census records and ceramic vessels recovered from the Boston‐Higginbotham House, a historic residence that was occupied by two Black families for almost 200 years. Changes in vessel forms over time indicate that Black women were increasingly finding ways to supplement the income of their spouses. I argue that Black women played an integral role in their household's economy, and in supporting the whaling industry, especially as boardinghouse operators. This form of entrepreneurship also served to expand Black families’ opportunities for building social networks and strengthening the Black community.

The expansion of modern commercial whaling and the Antarctic whaling in Nazi Germany

1873년 독일은 북극해에서의 포경을 포기했다. 이후 포경산업은 노르웨이와 영국이 현대식 상업포경 기술을 발전시키면서 전 세계의 바다에서 고래를 잡아들였다. 1차 세계대전 기간 동안 고래 기름은 니트로글리세린의 원료로서 뿐만 아니라 중요한 지방공급원으로 자리 잡았다. 특히 고래 기름은 가장 중요한 마가린 생산원료로 이용되었다. 저렴한 고래유를 원료로 생산된 마가린은 독일인들의 중요한 지방공급원으로 자리 잡게 된다. 대공황 이전까지 독일은 가장 많은 고래유를 수입해 마가린을 생산하는 국가가 되었지만, 고질적인 지방부족에 시달리고 있었다. 식량의 자급자족과 군비확장을 목표로 하는 나치정권의 정책에도 불구하고 독일인들의 식량문제는 해결되지 못했다. 군비확장 우선정책에 밀려 식량의 자급자족 정책은 실효를 거둘 수 없었다. 무엇보다도 지방의 자급률은 50% 선을 겨우 넘기는 수준이었다. 노르웨이의 고래유 수입에 전적으로 의존하고 있던 독일 마가린 산업을 중심으로 외환절약과 독자적인 고래유 공급을 확보할 목적으로 남극해 포경선단을 만들어 본격적인 현대식 상업포경을 시작했다. 1936년부터 1939년까지 독일은 7개의 남극해 포경선단을 만들어 노르웨이, 영국, 일본과 함께 세계 4대 포경국가가 되었다. 2차 세계대전의 발발로 중단된 나치 독일의 남극해 포경은 패전과 함께 종말을 고하고 말았다. 나치 독일의 남극해 포경이 목적했던 외환절약이나 지방의 자급자족은 실패하고 말았지만, 1930년대 말 나치 독일에 의해 본격화된 남극해에서의 현대식 상업포경은 전후 일본, 노르웨이, 영국, 네덜란드, 소련 등과 같은 국가들에 의해 더욱 확대되었다. 그리고 남극해의 고래는 멸종위기종이 될 때까지 남획되었다. 1980년대 말부터 세계적으로 포경이 금지되었지만 여전히 노르웨이와 아이슬란드, 그리고 최근에 일본이 상업포경을 재개했다.In 1873 Germany gave up the arctic whaling. Since then, the norwegian and the english whaling industries with advancing modern commercial whaling technology have caught whales from all over the oceans. During the First World War, whale oil became an important raw material of edible fats as well as of nitroglycerin. In particular, whale oil has been the most important raw material of margarine production. Thanks to the cheap price of whale oil, Margarine has become an important source of fat for the Germans. Until the Great Depression, Germany was a major fat importer on the european whale oil market, but suffered from chronic shortages of fats. Despite the Nazi regime s policy of expanding food self-sufficiency and armament, German food problems were not resolved. The autarky policy of food was ineffective due to the military expansion priority policy. Above all, the german self-sufficiency rate of fats in the early nazi times was just over 50%. Focusing on the German margarine industry, which relyed entirely on norwegian whale oil imports, antarctic whaling fleets were launched for the purpose of securing minimal foreign currency and independent whale oil supply. From 1936 to 1939, Germany with her seven antarctic whaling fleets became the world s fourth largest whaling nation after Norway, Great Britain and Japan. But nazi german antarctic whaling was broken off in the wake of the outbreak of World War II and ended finally with the defeat of the war. Nazi German plan for the saving of foreign currency and self-sufficiency of fats through the antarctic whaling failed, but modern commercial whaling in the antarctic, which was full-fledged by Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, was followed after the second world war by countries such as Japan, Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, and the Soviet Union. Further expanded by them. And whales in the antarctic sea were overfished until they became a globally endangered species. Commercial whaling has been banned worldwide since the late 1980s, but Norway, Iceland and Japan have recently resumed commercial whaling.

The history of Australian legal opposition to Japanese Antarctic whaling

ABSTRACTWhaling has been a consistent theme in Australia’s relations with Japan since the 1930s, Australia having endeavoured to regulate, restrict, or bring to a complete halt Japan’s Antarctic whaling virtually since it began. Australia’s motivations have been mixed, involving at various points, some combination of protection of Australia’s coastal whaling industry, concern for Australia’s security, for safeguarding Australia’s Antarctic territorial claim, and more recently, concern for Australia’s whale-watching industry and/or for the whales. Since environmental consciousness became a primary factor in the 1970s, Australian policy has been aligned with that of anti-whaling non-governmental organizations (NGOs), albeit that certain actions of NGOs have caused difficulties for the Australian Government. Law – inclusive of legal argument in the course of diplomacy, domestic laws, and international litigation – has been a mechanism of influence used by the Australian Government and NGOs. This paper traces Australia’s legal opposition from its beginnings until Japan’s announcement in December 2018 that it would end Antarctic whaling.

Dadykina , M. M. Kraikovskii , A. V Laius , Iu A. Pomorskie promysly na Shpitsbergene v XVIII - nach. XIX v. Issledovanie. Dokumenty (review)

SEER, 97, 2, APRIL 2019 364 Dadykina, M. M.; Kraikovskii, A. V. and Laius, Iu. A. Pomorskie promysly na Shpitsbergene v XVIII – nach. XIX v. Issledovanie. Dokumenty. AliansArkheo , Moscow and St Petersburg, 2017. 504 pp. Notes. Tables. Figures. Appendices. Bibliographical references. Indices. Price unknown. Russia’s emergence as a maritime power during the reign of Peter the Great is widely discussed in the literature. What is less widely appreciated, however, is the fact that Russian maritime activities long predated Peter. The peoples of the Russian north (the ‘Pomors’) constructed sea-going craft enabling them to engage in fishing, hunting and associated pursuits on and near the various islands and lands of the Arctic and sub-Arctic long before the time of the TsarReformer . One of the locations favoured by Pomor fishermen and hunters was the archipelago of Svalbard, or Spitsbergen as it is still known to the Russians. Svalbard’s historically contentious geopolitical status, plus recent tensions over the whole of the Arctic basin deriving from both environmental and political factors, mean that this book is likely to attract some international attention even though it focuses on the relatively distant past (eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries). Although Svalbard has been the subject of much discussion over the years both among scholars and among politicians and others, the authors of this book contend that discussions have long been hindered by the absence of scholarship based on solid documentary evidence. It is this lacuna which they seek to address. The focus is on Russian maritime activities taking place on and around the archipelago during the period within the broader context of the Arctic environment, the northern economy and society, government policy, and prevailing ideas on modernization, economic theory and the rational use of resources. Both the activities of the Russian state and those of the local participants in maritime enterprises are considered. Key questions include the part played by maritime activities on Svalbard and its surrounding seas in the northern economy, and in what ways such activities interconnected with government policies and schemes for modernization. The book is divided into two principal sections. The first, entitled ‘Spitsbergen in the Politics, Economy and Culture of the Russian Empire’ is a broad-brush survey of the subject based primarily on the documentary sources found in the second section, supplemented by secondary sources where appropriate. Having surveyed the earlier (primarily Russian) historiography, attention turns to maritime activity in the Russian north in the context of attempts to ‘Europeanize’ the Russian Empire. Government policies to organize companies to exploit the resources of Svalbard and nearby territories (train-oil, walrus products including valuable walrus ivory, seal products, cod) are discussed and their significance for the local economy assessed. The government’s repeated attempts to develop a Russian whaling industry are also considered. Detailed REVIEWS 365 consideration is given to the ways in which the Pomors organized their activities, including the winter land-based hunting of fox, polar bear, northern reindeer and eider-duck. Altogether it is concluded that Pomor expeditions to Svalbard did not play a substantial role in the northern economy, though the sources available are two meagre to allow for a definitive judgement. The book’s second section consists of some 184 documents, most of which appear in published form for the first time. The authors and their assistants have scoured archives in Moscow (RGADA), St Petersburg (RGIA, Arkhiv SPbII RAN) and Archangel (GAAO) to make a wide range of materials available to the scholarly community. The documents include those relating to government attempts to establish monopoly companies according to mercantilist principles, and to develop a whaling industry, and those which cast light on traditional Pomor activities. An important role in the latter is played by data from the Archangel customs receipts. There are two appendices. The first is a list of excerpts from the St Petersburg vedomosti for the 1740s and ’50s with details about whaling activity plus a translation of an account of a voyage to Svalbard undertaken in 1780 by S. Bacstrom. The second contains data on the arrival and departure of relevant vessels at the port of Archangel with the provisions and imports carried (1780s) and other details. There is a...

Smiley , Will From Slaves to Prisoners of War: The Ottoman Empire, Russia, and International Law (review)

REVIEWS 365 consideration is given to the ways in which the Pomors organized their activities, including the winter land-based hunting of fox, polar bear, northern reindeer and eider-duck. Altogether it is concluded that Pomor expeditions to Svalbard did not play a substantial role in the northern economy, though the sources available are two meagre to allow for a definitive judgement. The book’s second section consists of some 184 documents, most of which appear in published form for the first time. The authors and their assistants have scoured archives in Moscow (RGADA), St Petersburg (RGIA, Arkhiv SPbII RAN) and Archangel (GAAO) to make a wide range of materials available to the scholarly community. The documents include those relating to government attempts to establish monopoly companies according to mercantilist principles, and to develop a whaling industry, and those which cast light on traditional Pomor activities. An important role in the latter is played by data from the Archangel customs receipts. There are two appendices. The first is a list of excerpts from the St Petersburg vedomosti for the 1740s and ’50s with details about whaling activity plus a translation of an account of a voyage to Svalbard undertaken in 1780 by S. Bacstrom. The second contains data on the arrival and departure of relevant vessels at the port of Archangel with the provisions and imports carried (1780s) and other details. There is a short bibliography and indices of personal and geographical names, but unfortunately no subject index. In conclusion, this book can be said to be a very solid contribution to the literature concerning Russian maritime activity in Svalbard and its surrounding seas, and in the north more generally, in the eighteenth century. In addition it provides scholars with a major new resource for future research. All historical scholars with Russian Arctic interests will value its appearance. School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Denis J. B. Shaw University of Birmingham Smiley, Will. From Slaves to Prisoners of War: The Ottoman Empire, Russia, and International Law. The History and Theory of International Law. Oxford, Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 2018. x + 283 pp. Map. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £65.00. Narratives of captivity and slavery loom large in imperial Russia’s encounter with the Ottoman empire, evoking the Orientalist tropes that characterized broader European discourses about ‘the East’. These narratives also had material basis in the Russo-Ottoman confrontation, marked by internecine wars that resulted in large numbers of captives on both sides. In From Slaves to Prisoners of War: The Ottoman Empire, Russia, and International Law, Will SEER, 97, 2, APRIL 2019 366 Smiley places the shifting norms, governance and practice of captivity on the Russo-Ottoman frontier at the centre of a new account of international law’s development before the twentieth century. This account provincializes western Europe and the ‘Law of Nations’ doctrines articulated by Grotius or Vattel, and argues instead for a set of norms regarding subjecthood and the laws of war that emerged from the exigencies of inter-imperial competition on the ground. Beginning with Peter the Great’s attempts to puncture Ottoman control of the Sea of Azov in the early eighteenth century, and tracing RussoOttoman relations through to the eve of the First World War, Smiley presents a compelling genealogy of law wrought by war, and the implications of this process for subjects of the Tsar and Sultan. Over the course of ten chapters, Smiley presents a clear chronology of stepwise and contingent legal change. Ottoman approaches to captives (many of whom were also slaves) evolved from the ‘Law of Ransom’ in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, to the ‘Law of Release’ from the 1730s through to the mid-nineteenth century, and a prisoner-of-war system that began under the aegis of ‘benign reciprocity’ in the mid-nineteenth century. This transformation was, Smiley argues, ‘complex and multilayered’ (p. 237) and not characterized by a single direction of ideological travel from west to east. Crucially, the Ottoman captivity system, which by 1900 had come to resemble the norms expounded by international humanitarian law, was formed through contestation with Russia and then expanded to apply to Ottoman relations with other powers...

The Politics of Liverpool’s Northern Whaling Trade, 1750–1823

Whaling is a largely under-researched aspect of Georgian Liverpool's maritime heritage. Nevertheless, some broad features of this trade are known. Indeed, Liverpool began sending whaling vessels to the Arctic in 1750, but by 1823 this trade had effectively collapsed at the port. However, there is one area in particular that has been especially overlooked by the existing literature: the relationship between Liverpool's business–political lobby and the local whaling industry. By analysing this issue, we gain a broader understanding of the patterns of Liverpool's northern whaling trade to 1823. Evidently, if a maritime business is to succeed then it requires consistent lobbying and support on dry land.

Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records.

Right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) were extirpated from the eastern North Atlantic by commercial whaling. Grey whales (Eschrichtius robustus) disappeared from the entire North Atlantic in still-mysterious circumstances. Here, we test the hypotheses that both species previously occurred in the Mediterranean Sea, an area not currently considered part of their historical range. We used ancient DNA barcoding and collagen fingerprinting methods to taxonomically identify a rare set of 10 presumed whale bones from Roman and pre-Roman archaeological sites in the Strait of Gibraltar region, plus an additional bone from the Asturian coast. We identified three right whales, and three grey whales, demonstrating that the ranges of both of these species historically encompassed the Gibraltar region, probably including the Mediterranean Sea as calving grounds. Our results significantly extend the known range of the Atlantic grey whale, and suggest that 2000 years ago, right and grey whales were common when compared with other whale species. The disappearance of right and grey whales from the Mediterranean region is likely to have been accompanied by broader ecosystem impacts, including the disappearance of their predators (killer whales) and a reduction in marine primary productivity. The evidence that these two coastal and highly accessible species were present along the shores of the Roman Empire raises the hypothesis that they may have formed the basis of a forgotten whaling industry.

Sailors' "Bring-Backs" From the Nineteenth Century New England Whaling Industry: A Wooden Moai From Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Two examples of artifact collections that were brought back from the South Seas by Yankee whalers are documented. Among them is a singular head of a wooden moai from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which is analyzed here and absolutely dated. This small sculpture is associated with an early phase of the American whaling industry in the Pacific.

Collateral damage to marine and terrestrial ecosystems from Yankee whaling in the 19th century.

Yankee whalers of the 19th century had major impacts on populations of large whales, but these leviathans were not the only taxa targeted. Here, we describe the “collateral damage,” the opportunistic or targeted taking of nongreat whale species by the American whaling industry. Using data from 5,064 records from 79 whaling logs occurring between 1840 and 1901, we show that Yankee whalers captured 5,255 animals across three large ocean basins from 32 different taxonomic categories, including a wide range of marine and terrestrial species. The taxa with the greatest number of individuals captured were walruses (Odobenus rosmarus), ducks (family Anatidae), and cod (Gadus sp.). By biomass, the most captured species were walruses, grampus (a poorly defined group within Odontoceti), and seals (family Otariidae). The whalers captured over 2.4 million kg of nongreat whale meat equaling approximately 34 kg of meat per ship per day at sea. The species and areas targeted shifted over time in response to overexploitation of whale populations, with likely intensive local impacts on terrestrial species associated with multiyear whaling camps. Our results show that the ecosystem impacts of whaling reverberated on both marine and coastal environments.

Ancient whale exploitation in the Mediterranean: species matters

Abstract

Giant Whaling Enterprises in Japanese Traditional Whaling Industry

Giant Whaling Enterprises in Japanese Traditional Whaling Industry

Living with Whales: Documents and Oral Histories of Native New England Whaling Industry. Edited by Nancy Shoemaker . Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press , 2014 . 192 pp. Illustrations, maps, appendix, notes, and index. Paper $19.95. Native American Whalemen and the World: Indigenous Encounters and the Contingency of Race. By Nancy Shoemaker . Durham : University of North Carolina

Living with Whales: Documents and Oral Histories of Native New England Whaling Industry. Edited by Nancy Shoemaker . Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press , 2014 . 192 pp. Illustrations, maps, appendix, notes, and index. Paper $19.95. Native American Whalemen and the World: Indigenous Encounters and the Contingency of Race. By Nancy Shoemaker . Durham : University of North Carolina