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Whaling Ships
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japan, still dedicates a single factory ship for the industry. The vessels used by aboriginal whaling communities are much smaller and are used for various purposes over the course of the year. The ''whale catcher'' was developed during the Steam-powered vesselage , and then driven by diesel engines throughout much of the twentieth century. It was designed with a harpoon gun mounted at its bow and was fast enough to chase and catch rorquals such as the fin whale. At first, whale catchers either brought the whales they killed to a whaling station, a settlement ashore where the carcasses could be processed, or to its factory ship anchored in a sheltered bay or inlet. With the later development of the slipway at the ship's stern, whale ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Bedford, MA
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-largest city and the largest of the South Coast region. It is the second-largest city in the Providence-New Bedford, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also a part of the greater Boston, Massachusetts Combined Statistical Area. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Indians. English colonists bought the land on which New Bedford would later be built from the Wampanoag in 1652, and the original colonial settlement that would later become the city was founded by English Quakers in the late 17th century. The town of New Bedford itself was officially incorporated in 1787. During the first half of the 19th century, New Bedford was one of the world's most important whaling ports. At its economic heig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or delegated authority issued commissions, also referred to as letters of marque, during wartime. The commission empowered the holder to carry on all forms of hostility permissible at sea by the usages of war. This included attacking foreign vessels and taking them as prizes and taking crews prisoner for exchange. Captured ships were subject to condemnation and sale under prize law, with the proceeds divided by percentage between the privateer's sponsors, shipowners, captains and crew. A percentage share usually went to the issuer of the commission (i.e. the sovereign). Most colonial powers, as well as other countries, engaged in privateering. Privateering allowed sovereigns to multiply their naval forces at relatively low cost by mobilizi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whaling In The Netherlands
The history of Dutch whaling begins with 17th-century exploration of Arctic fishing grounds; and the profitability of whaling in the 18th century drove further growth. Increased competition and political upheavals in Europe affected the stability of this maritime industry in the 19th century; and a combination of these factors cut short any further growth of Dutch whaling in the Antarctic. Modern, post-war whaling in the Southern Ocean was developed intensely, but continued growth of Dutch whaling was abbreviated as a result of multi-national treaties which similarly impacted other national whaling enterprises.Schokkenbroek, p. 19; Bruijn, J. R. '' "De Nederlandsche Maatschappij voor de Walvischvaart, 1946-1967," Ecconomisch-en sociaal-historisch Jaarboek'' (''ESHJ''). Vol. 48 (1985), pp. 233-257. The current government of the Netherlands supports a moratorium on all whaling worldwide.Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs "The Netherlands investigates anti-whaling campaign,"5 March 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway in the Arctic Ocean. Constituting the westernmost bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea. Spitsbergen covers an area of , making it the largest island in Norway and the List of islands by area, 36th largest in the world. The administrative centre is Longyearbyen. Other settlements, in addition to research outposts, are the mining community of Barentsburg, the research community of Ny-Ålesund, and the mining outpost of Sveagruva. Spitsbergen was covered in of ice in 1999, which was approximately 58.5% of the island's total area. The island was first used as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which it was abandoned. Coal mining started at the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sperm Whaling
Sperm whaling is the human practice of hunting sperm whales, the largest toothed whale and the deepest-diving marine mammal species, for the whale oil, oil, whale meat, meat and whale bone, bone that can be extracted from the cetaceans' bodies. Sperm whales are prized for the sperm oil, a waxy secretion that was especially popular as a lubricant and illuminant during the Industrial Revolution, and so they were heavily targeted in 19th-century commercial whaling, as exemplified in ''Moby Dick''. Sperm oil has since been replaced by the cheaper kerosene-based products, but another unusual product, ambergris, is still valued as a fixative (perfumery), perfume fixative. Although the animal is classified as a vulnerable species and commercial whaling has been banned since the 1970s, aboriginal whaling in limited numbers is still permitted for subsistence, notably from two villages in Indonesia. Economic motivation Sperm whales were hunted in the 19th century by American, British an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spermaceti
Spermaceti (see also: Sperm oil) is a waxy substance found in the head cavities of the sperm whale (and, in smaller quantities, in the oils of other whales). Spermaceti is created in the spermaceti organ inside the whale's head. This organ may contain as much as of spermaceti. It has been extracted by whalers since the 17th century for human use in cosmetics, textiles, and candles. Theories for the spermaceti organ's biological function suggest that it may control buoyancy, act as a focusing apparatus for the whale's sense of echolocation, or possibly both. Concrete evidence supports both theories. The buoyancy theory holds that the sperm whale is capable of heating the spermaceti, lowering its density and thus allowing the whale to float; for the whale to sink again, it must take water into its blowhole, which cools the spermaceti into a denser solid. This claim has been called into question by recent research that indicates a lack of biological structures to support this h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trywork
A trywork is a furnace, used to heat blubber from whales for the recovery of oil, on a whaling ship. The trywork is located aft of the fore-mast, and is typically constructed of brick and attached to the deck with iron braces. Two cast-iron trypots are set atop the furnace. It is similar to the rendering process for producing lard by heating or frying fatty pork. A reservoir of water under the bricks keeps the furnace from scorching the wood of the deck. In the 18th and 19th century New England whaling industry, tryworks on whaling ships allowed the vessels to stay at sea longer as it allowed them to boil out the oil during the voyage and not have to carry unprocessed blubber home. Slices of blubber were cut as thinly as possible for the process, and on New England whaling ships, these slices were known as "bible leaves" by the sailors. The ability to use tryworks at sea thus enabled the Yankee whaling industry to flourish. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Try-pot
A try pot is a large pot used to remove and render the oil from blubber obtained from cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and pinnipeds (seals), and also to extract oil from penguins. Once a suitable animal such as a whale had been caught and killed, the blubber was stripped from the carcass in a process known as flensing, cut into pieces, and melted in the try pots to extract the oil. Early on in the history of whaling, vessels had no means to process blubber at sea and had to bring it into port for processing. Later, though, whaling vessels frequently included a trywork, a brick furnace and set of try pots built into the deck. In the 18th- and 19th-century New England whaling industry, the use of the trywork allowed ships to stay at sea longer and boil out their oil. The slices of blubber were kept as thin as possible for the process, and on New England whaling ships, these slices were called "bible leaves" by the sailors. The use of an onboard trywork was the major technologi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whale Oil
Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tear drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities of sperm whales, differs chemically from ordinary whale oil: it is composed mostly of liquid wax. Its properties and applications differ from those of detergentized whale oil, and it was sold for a higher price. Source and use Emerging industrial societies used whale oil in oil lamps and to Soap#History, make soap. In the 20th century it was made into margarine. There is a misconception that commercial development of the petroleum industry and vegetable oils saved whales from extinction. In fact, the development of petroleum accelerated the whaling industry, which peaked in the 1960s. In the 21st century, with most countries having banned whaling, the sale and use of whale oil has practically ceased. Whale oil was obtained by boiling strips of blubber ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blubber
Blubber is a thick layer of Blood vessel, vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians. It was present in many marine reptiles, such as Ichthyosauria, ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Description Lipid-rich, collagen fiber-laced blubber comprises the Subcutaneous tissue, hypodermis and covers the whole body, except for parts of the appendages. It is strongly attached to the musculature and skeleton by highly organized, fan-shaped networks of tendons and ligaments, can comprise up to 50 per cent of the body mass of some marine mammals during some points in their lives, and can range from thick in dolphins and smaller whales, to more than thick in some bigger whales, such as Right whale, right and bowhead whales. However, this is not indicative of larger whales' ability to retain heat better, as the thickness of a whale's blubber does not significantly affect heat loss. More indicative of a whale's ability to retain heat is the wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flensing
Flensing is the removing of the blubber or outer integument of whales, separating it from the animal's meat. Processing the blubber (the subcutaneous fat) into whale oil was the key step that transformed a whale carcass into a stable, transportable commodity. It was an important part of the history of whaling. The whaling that still continues in the 21st century is both industrial and aboriginal. In aboriginal whaling the blubber is rarely rendered into oil, although it may be eaten as ''muktuk''. Terminology English whalemen referred to the process as ''flensing'', while American whalemen called it ''cutting-in'' or ''flinching''. Open-boat Shore and bay whaling In Spitsbergen, in the first half of the 17th century, the processing of whales was primarily done ashore. Where the whale was flensed differed between the English and Dutch. The English brought the whale to the stern of the ship, where men in a boat cut strips of blubber from the whale's back. These were tied t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
