What is shore whaling

Such events provided enormous amounts of protein — something not readily available in a place with no large, naturally occurring land mammals. Artisans fashioned weapons out of the bone and ornaments from the ivory.

Maori also began to understand where and when these gifts from the sea might appear, developing rich traditions around stranding sites. Harvesting of this kind had minimal impact on whale populations. The practice of harvesting stranded whales continued into the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also became a small-scale commercial operation, with oil being boiled out of blubber from the carcasses. Today, Maori sometimes take bone and ivory from stranded whales for customary uses such as carving.

From about , whaling ships sailed from Europe and America to hunt in unexploited southern waters. They came for the staggering numbers of whales that had been seen there. One ship in reported sighting 15, whales off the coast of Australia in less than two weeks! This oceanic whaling involved large vessels that routinely spent several years at sea.

Oceanic whalers also hunted southern right whales, which yielded large quantities of oil when their blubber was boiled. Whalers chased their huge quarry in flimsy boats. Sperm whales often fought back, flicking their huge tails and smashing boats that pursued them. They dived when harpooned, sometimes causing boats to sink. Oil from whales lit city streets and lubricated machines in rapidly industrialising countries like Britain and America. Shore-based whalers kept lookout for and gave chase to whales literally from their backyards.

This may seem less arduous than years at sea on a sailing vessel, but the shore stations were often remote and conditions harsh.

Several of these whalers had deserted the even harsher conditions found aboard some whaling ships. Furniture was improvised, often out of the bones of whales themselves. Fine Dictionary. Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary. In literature: One day all the natives manned their boats to catch a whale that was spouting off the shore; but he sat idly by his hut. The shore whaling parties at Twofold Bay, however, run no risks of this sort.

And suppose it makes the big whale so sick that he swims near to the shore. Whale and sturgeon, to which the sovereign is entitled when either thrown on shore or caught near the coasts.

Some which was brought to me reminded me of the whale on the shores of the Bristol Channel. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer. In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

THERE is no group of mammals about which, in recent years, our knowledge has increased with greater rapidity than in the case of the whales. Although for centuries whales have held an important place in the commercial history of the world, until a short time ago almost the only data relating to their habits were drawn from the stories of the men who had hunted them. At best the pursuit incurred great danger and hardship, and the cruises occupied several years.

It was, therefore, almost an impossibility for a naturalist to obtain first-hand knowledge of their habits. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar.