History Of Whaling

Matthew Smith

Professor Judith Girardi

English 1A

13 November 2015

A Brief History of Whaling.

Whaling is the practice of killing whales for the purpose of food, supplies (such as bone) or for sport. Since prehistoric times whales have been sources of food and provisions for humans. For some groups such as the Eskimo and some Asian countries, whaling is an integral part of their culture. Whaling in Asia was recorded in over 5,000 BC, and in Europe a thousand years later. However it was not until the sixtieth century that full scale commercial whaling was recorded, and by the early sixteen hundreds the Dutch had started large scale whaling operations. From the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia “It is not until the middle of the 16th cent, however,

“In 1925 the first floating factory was sent to the Antarctic regions; that innovation led to the greatest expansion in the history of whaling. In 1930 the modern whaling industry reached its zenith, with 6 shore stations, 41 floating factories, and 232 whale catchers in the Antarctic regions, of which 3 stations, 27 factory ships, and 147 catchers were Norwegian and 2 stations, 27 floating factories, and 68 catchers were British. During World War II most of the world 's whaling fleet was lost, but afterward Norway, Britain, and Japan (which had started Antarctic expeditions in 1935) soon reestablished their prewar positions, and in addition the Soviet Union, the Netherlands, and South Africa appeared in the Antarctic regions for the first time.” (Columbia Electronic

Several northern European countries still whale for food, and Japan (the last country to operate a full scale whaling armada) runs a very controversial whaling program which is claimed to be for research, but which many advocacy groups claim is for specialty food. Whaling in the twentieth and twenty first centuries is also very different than that of the 1800s. Instead of a solitary ship, a modern whaling operation is a small armada. Sonar and sometimes even helicopters are used to location the whales. Small and extremely fast “kill ships” then move in. Unlike the old harpoons hurled into the whale’s back, modern harpoons are fired from a cannon, and are tipped with an explosive charge, designed to both make the whaler’s job easier, as well as to lessen the suffering of the whale by killing it quickly. Once the whale is dead, it is towed to a factory ship, dragged up the slipway, and processed, leaving the kill ships to return to the