History Of Whaling :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When seventeenth-century settlers brought their knowledge of the ancient European whaling industry to the shores of New England, they were not the first to hunt the great beasts. Native Americans who lived along the coasts of the continent used carcasses of dead whales that washed up on shore for food, oil, and they used the bone for making canoes to pursue whales that swam into shallow coastal waters. As the Mayflower sailed into Plymouth harbor in 1620, many whales swam near the ship, one factor that kept the settlers on the harsh coast. Experienced fishermen in the ship's crew recognized the potential of a whaling industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first organized whaling in the American colonies began on Long Island (New York) in 1640, and there were whale-fisheries active in New England and New Jersey by the end of the century. Using traditional techniques brought from Europe, the colonial whalers, launched small boats from beaches, captured and towed whales to shore, cut up their blubber and bone, and then extracted the oil by boiling the blubber in large cast iron kettles called trypots.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the number of whales near shore inevitably declined, the colonists, chased whales in single masted-ships, and towed whaleboats for the hunt. They stored whale blubber in casks, which they brought home to be boiled into oil. Soon, many hunted whales by day; slept on shore at night.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the market for whale products increased, whale men undertook longer journeys. During the first years of deep sea whaling, it was the custom to cruise eastward in spring as far as the Azores. Then south along the Guinea coast of Africa, east to the coast of Brazil and then returned to home to take on supplies. They then headed north to the Davis Straits, between Greenland and North America, for the summer. As whales became more scarce on these hunting grounds American whalers began to fan out into the major oceans of the world, by building vessels that were large enough to, make voyages lasting several years. These ships were able to carry four or five whaleboats and were able to extract oil by boiling blubber on deck.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1774, at least 350 vessels sailed from ports in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. Shore whaling, carried out on ocean shores, but was not possible from New Bedford's deep harbor. Residents engaged in deep sea whaling at least as early as 1746.