The history of walrusing Over the past 175 years the Pacific walrus population has been depleted nearly to extinction and allowed to recover 3 times. These depletion events form an interesting history and a story worth telling. This series of blog posts will cover these historical events. My interpretation of the history of walrusing comes from an excellent book titled, “Whales, Ice & Men,” by John R. Bockstoce. It was the demand for oils in the 18th century that fueled the economy around whaling in New England. Oils were necessary for lubrication of machines and tools as well as producing light. Journeys to hunt whales needed to be carried out close to shore, where the rendering of oil took place. In more northern latitudes, blubber from whales cold be stacked into casks onboard the ship for several days before turning rancid, as was the practice in Britain. American whalers on the other hand, were required to tow the whale to shore for flensing (youtube video on flensing of a gray whale) and the rending of oil. By 1750 all nearshore whale stocks were depleted and voyages increased in distance and duration. If it weren’t for two timely inventions, it is not likely American whalers would have been able to continue this fishery. The first invention was shipboard tryworks (get pic here), brick ovens containing iron pots that allowed for rendering oil onboard. The invention of shipboard tryworks not only put whalers back in business, it allowed them to become pelagic hunters. Shipboard tryworks. Source: http://www.echospace.org/ The second invention also drew Yankee whalers further from home. This invention used the wax from within a sperm whale’s head (the spermaceti organ) to craft improved candles. This invention shifted the focus of American whaling away from baleen whales and targeted toothy sperm whales. With the assistance of shipboard tryworks Yankee whalers basically monopolized the sperm whale fishery within one year. By 1755, 300 ships of Yankee whalers were hunting sperm whales from the Azores down to the Falkland Islands. Anatomy of a sperm whale head. Source: https://shwebook.com It was this great leviathan that drew sailors from their home with the New Bedford Whaling Company to scouring the Pacific, but not before 4 decades of inactivity. Prior to the War of Independence between Britain and America in 1775, oil and baleen were the colonies’ primary sources of credit to England. Once the war broke out, England embargoed American whale oil and Americans could not compete with European markets. It wasn’t until after the War of 1812 that whaling rebounded in waters around North America.
This was in part due to its only competitor—Britain—losing its footing. Industrialization took hold in England before America and textile manufactures replaced whale oil with rapeseed oil. Furthermore, coal oil and coal gas were far less costly to acquire. Meanwhile, America was growing and the market for oil remained strong. Whaling crews launched from ports in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Long Island setting sail throughout the Atlantic and now into the Pacific following routes that the British had laid for them.
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AuthorHi, I'm Jenell. Biologist, student, outdoors woman and author of Mother Walrus. Archives
March 2019
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