History of Whaling By Jared Klinger

Early History The practice of hunting whales began in prehistoric times. Whale’s, dolphin’s, and porpoises were hunted as a means to get food. In the 12 th century it was discovered that whale blubber could be boiled down to produce whale oil. Whaling at this time was done by the Vikings and the Basque peoples of present day Spain and France.

Early History Continued Popular whales at this time to hunt were Baleen whales (Right Whale’s)as they were easy to catch and stayed near the coast line. In the 12 th century whale oil was used for lighting, leather, and wool as well as in the manufacturing and production of soap. By the 15 th century the English, Norwegioner’s, and Dutch were involved in whaling. Around 1500 Japan and parts of present day Russia were whaling as a means of producing products.

History of Whaling By the 1600’s American whaling started in the colonies. Whaling was occurring at this time in Canada off the coast of Newfoundland.

American Whaling Whaling towns that sprung up during this time : Cape Cod, Nantucket, Long Island, and New London, CT. Others could include: New Bedford, and Boston Massachusetts's. These towns were centers of colonial trade. Other industries that were thriving in these towns at this time due to whaling: ship building, fishing, and the soap and wool making trades.

Whaling Terminology Lancing- this was the process of killing a whale using harpoon’s to rope the whale until it could not survive Claw- the tool used for hooking the tail fin of a whale

Terminology (systems) Blue whale unit system -whale’s were counted based on oil potential (this led to large whales becoming more profitable) Olympic system- this was a method of managing kills that said in basics first come, first take Country Quota System- this was a later method of managing kills that said how many whales could be caught in a given time frame

Whaling at New Bedford in 1901

Historical Ship Terms Slipway- A slide-like passage installed on the processing ship used to pull the captured whale onto the deck for butchering. Scrimshaw- carving in whale bone with a knife

Famous Dates in whaling 1570’s Japanese invented harpoon whaling. Early 1700’s European whaling started to decline. War years that destroyed fleets in America:1775,1812, Peak production year for whaling Production started to slow as a result of over hunting.

Historical Dates Exploding harpoon invented. Early 1900’s- production of whale oil started to take place while ships were at sea instead of at port 1928 Last American whaling ship sailed unregulated ’s Whale oil products regulated and whaling banned.

Source’s and Conclusion