The demand for spermaceti to make candles increased the demand for the hunting of sperm whales. Sailors were now chasing nomadic sperm whales and committing to journeys averaging 30 months, double that of previous years, in the 1820s and 30s. Sperm whales were harvested nearly to depletion by 1840. Lucky for sperm whales and their predators, a sudden change altered their fate. A change in Paris, halfway around the globe, altered the desired prey from the sperm whale to the right whale. This change had nothing to do with oil, consumption, conservation or risk mitigation (sperm whales are known to fight back and are responsible for several lost whaling ships). What then could possibly stimulate such a transition? Fashion. Yes, that’s correct, a not so unusual change in fashion. Suddenly women were sporting these huge, cage-like hoops around their waists. These trendy hoop skirts were made of flexible, durable baleen. The sperm whale is a toothed whale, therefore serving no use for this new trend. The price of baleen or “whalebone” as it was called, doubled in 1840-44 and the pursuit of the “right whale” ensued. Selling hoop skirts: http://www.livemaster.ru/topic From 1843-45 the Gulf of Alaska west to Japan’s Kurile Islands and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula was mottled with whaling vessels as they took more and more right whales and began the venture north for “polar whales.” Before I go delving into the over harvest of these particular whales, I would like to slow things down and zoom in on the ship and the men that were undertaking these expeditions. Whaling in the Arctic: https://allthingsliberty.com As soon as a ship returned from voyage at its homeport it was put under care of shipkeeper and prepared for its next voyage. Repairs were made and as the date of sailing drew near. The ship’s agent, the “landshark” was responsible for securing the crew of men that would undertake this journey. In the early years, it was not difficult to entice young men in New England and New York to sign up. You can image the landshark walking into a bar with the ship’s captain buying some young lads a round of beers. The boys grab chairs and the captain launches into the story of the first time he almost lost his life at sea. He speaks of adventure, new lands and the monetary rewards and swarms of women awaiting him after returning from his 3-month voyage at sea. Not only that but the landshark has already paid for their transportation to the port, room and board, and if you sign up tonight, he’ll get you completely outfitted first thing tomorrow. Sounds enticing, doesn’t it?
This account from Walter Burns describes how that morning went for him in San Francisco (Whales, Ice & Men). “I was given a sailor’s canvas bag, a matress, a pair of blankets, woolen trousers, dungaree trousers, a coat, a pair of brogans, a pair of rubber sea boots, underwear, socks, two flannel shirts, a cap, a belt and a sheath knife, a suit of oilskins and sou’wester, a tin cup, tin pan, knife, fork and spoon. That was all. It struck me as a rather slender equipment for a year’s voyage. A runner footed up the cost. “Why,” he said with an air of great surprise, “this foots up to $53 and your advance is only $50.” He added up the sum again. But he made no mistake. He seemed perplexed. “I don’t see how it is possible to scratch off anything,” he said. “You’ll need every one of these articles.” He puckered his brow, bit the end of his pencil and studied the figures. It was evidently a puzzling problem. “Well,” he said at last, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do. Bring me down a few curios (apparently old English for trinkets) from the Arctic and I’ll call it square.” I suppose my outfit was really worth about $6—not over $10.” Pay was not as lucrative as one might imagine. Profits were determined by the value of the ship’s oil and the current market price of baleen once the ship returned to port. Costs were deducted from costs of outfitting, piloting, port charges, tow boats and watchmen fees among other things. In 1857 when the Benjamin Tucker returned to New Bedford from her 4th Arctic voyage with 73,707 gallons of whale oil, 5,348 gallons of sperm oil and 30, 012 lbs of baleen, the ordinary seaman earned $283.25 ($3285.70 in 1982 dollars) for 2 years of work. You can imagine that as these voyages increased from months to years fewer men were willing to sign up and those that learned anything from their first voyage were probably not going to endure another.
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AuthorHi, I'm Jenell. Biologist, student, outdoors woman and author of Mother Walrus. Archives
March 2019
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