The Whaling: The Most Dangerous Career

While you could argue that practically everyone who has gone through the American education system has at least heard of Moby Dick, the whaling industry, a main element of the epic, is not so well known. In order to fully understand and appreciate this great work, it is in my opinion, important to have somewhat of an understanding of the industry which it is centered around. This is especially true because whaling was such a prominent, and important aspect of 19th century culture and although far less popular, still exists today. Throughout this essay I will give a brief history of whaling, discuss why it was such an important industry in the 19th century, talk about whaling in modern times, and lastly, tie it in to the novel.

Do you believe whaling is a good thing? I belive that whaling isnt a bad thing.Here are the 3 reasons why i belivethat whaling isnt a bad thing. 1.Its profitable for money. 2.History of whaling. 3.Employment opportunities.

The whaling industry came to America in the early 1700s with shore whaling. Settlers whaled near shore, then sold the whale’s oil, ambergris, and spermaceti for considerable profit. The success of these sales prompted wealthy Quakers from New Bedford and Nantucket Island to invest in whaling ports stocked with efficient ships, equipment, and crews. These ports accumulated much money for the Massachusetts towns. Aided by the inventions of the tryworks and toggling harpoon, America fast became a prominent name in the whaling industry. By 1846, America owned almost 82% of the world’s total whaling ships (Barcott, “In the Shadow of Moby-Dick”). Unfortunate the American whaling industry declined 13 years later as the rising petroleum market and

Whaling as a business in America first began in the early seventeenth century with the English settlers. As the settlers carelessly butchered whales who’d accidentally washed ashore, they remembered how prominently the oil was used back home, and began selling and using the oil as a commodity. The “industry” was then furthered, beginning with simple row boats capturing whales which neared the land. Soon, ships stocked with crews specifically for whaling were being paid for and shipped out, mostly from ports in Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. As the industry grew and higher demands came for whale oil, focuses shifted from Nantucket to New Bedford. Oil was now being used broadly, with baleen for umbrella handles, ambergris for perfume, and spermaceti

Whaling was very physical and economic business and the primary products were spermaceti, whale bones, sperm, and whale oil. The Native Americans used whaling for tribal purposes. The colonist in NEw ENgland hunted whales for baleen and oil. Whaling also gave them better burning candles. This is how the number of hales began to decrease as time went on.

This paper centers on the change of Hull maritime whaling aspects in last 200 years. Hull has a rich fishing and maritime past and also a long history of its port. With the development of the maritime, the way to go fishing, the catch of fish species and seaborne trades had changed. At the same time, it affects the development of the Hull.

The exploitation of whales and fish after 1920 was massive and without control. The Discovery Investigation was a committee formed by the British government with the purpose to make recommendations about sustainable whaling to prevent the collapse of whales. It started in 1925 and provide information about the amount of whales caught. During this time the commercial interest of the whales and the fishery dictated the behaviour of the whalers and fishers (Brandon and Clark, 2009).

The debate surrounding Makah whaling is a heated one to say the least. There are valid points on both sides of the argument, but there is one side I find to be more valid once the facts have been looked at. I will examine and present my findings regarding past and current laws and regulations related to whaling, types of whaling, other countries that take an active part in whaling (and why), as well as the Makah culture – both past and present. In this paper I will argue why the Makah should not be allowed to resume whaling, as it is unnecessary and could potentially put the grey whale species back on the endangered list.

Throughout the 19th century, the whaling industry was one of the largest sources of economic prosperity in the United States. Spermaceti oil was harvested from Sperm Whales used as an energy source for light and many more essential parts of people’s lives (“What Products…”). Whaling was an extremely dangerous and brutal practice that involved the inhumane capture and torture of essentially harmless creatures.

Whales were peeled by vessels, conserved by the cold, and packed in barrels. 1719 Greenland whaling operation spread into Davis Strait. Davis Strait whaling operation was in the power of the Dutch and German until 1780. The Britain had to leave and service their industrial revolution. From the beginning of the 1690s the British had hunted down whales (have been fishing) in the Bay of North America colonies,also in Rhode Island, Long Island, Cape Cod. These were new centers of activity for (whaling) fishing. Then, during 1712 the Nantucket vessel capture the first sperm whale,these became a brand new center.

In 1819, The whale ship, Essex, set its sails and departed from Nantucket, Massachusetts on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean to hunt and kill sperm whales and retrieve the abundance of oil the whales possess, which became a crucial component in 19th century industry [2]. The island of Nantucket had been one of the most important oil businesses for quite some time. For the crew of the whale ships, harvesting whales was a tough assignment; when a whale was spotted, the crew would approach it, harpoon it, and then try to kill it. Once a whale was killed, its blubber was peeled from the corpse and then boiled for the high quality oil. On this particular journey the crew faced even more difficulties than just the killing

Another argument against the expansion of whaling involves the morality and ethical aspects of killing whales. Currently, explosive harpoons tipped with a 30-g penthrite grenade are used by Norwegian and Icelandic whaling fleets as the primary mechanism of causing lethal trauma (Knudsen and Oen 2003). If there is any question whether the harpoon delivered a lethal blow, rifles chambered in .375 or .458 are fired at the cranium. Average time to death in minke whales in the North Atlantic was calculated at 141 seconds with a maximum time to death of 90 minutes (Simmonds 2006). Conservationists consider even the average time to death too long to be considered humane. Another point anti-whaling groups bring up is the high degree of intelligence

**Do you agree with the Norwegian and Japanese position on permitting the hunting of non-endangered species of whales as a cultural exemption?**

For many decades, Japan is well-known as a dominant country conducting whaling practices for many purposes such as obtaining whale meat and oil (Facts-about-Japan, n.d.). Whaling has been one of the most important industry in Japan since the WW II post-war that provides huge amount of protein and helps fed Japanese citizens (Animal Planet, n.d.). It is believed that the coastal villages were where hunting whales was first claimed to take place in-shore with hand-thrown harpoons, but it was not the main interest of many people (Whalingmuseum, n.d.). It was not until the 17th century that whaling industry had a dramatic development due to an invention of hunting in groups of boats using net technique (Facts-about-Japan,

Aboriginal peoples have been whaling as a tradition for thousands of years with it being a significant part of their culture. They have depended on whales for food, clothing and other handicrafts. Whaling was key to survival and the Natives have honored the sacrifice of each whale through spiritual rituals and ceremonies. It gives them a purpose and discipline which benefits their whole community. This has not been a problem for many centuries, only recently have animal activists been trying to stop the hunting of whales. The Makah people have been the main subjects to the opposition of whaling on the basis that it is unnecessary for their culture or their survival. This has been an ongoing issue since 1999, when they harvested their first whale in 70 years. The violent backlash received has prevented them from gaining permission to hunt after that which led to the illegal killing of a whale in 2007. To present day, the Makah has gotten many undeserved death threats and bomb threats to schools. Many complaints have been made that the hunting method differs from how it was done traditionally so the hunting cannot be considered as one of their cultural practices. By denying the Makah cultural rights, this controversy could lead to cultural genocide. The Makah people should be allowed to harvest a total of 24 whales in 6-year period with two hunting seasons of 3 weeks each because it is the main factor in preserving their culture, it will not cause the gray whale population to