Five
“Sulphur bottom” is another name for the blue whale, which was hunted almost to extinction by whalers until it was protected by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling in 1966. According to the American Cetacean Society, recovery has been slow, and only recently have there been signs that the blue whale population is increasing. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)
The whaleboat Adelia Chase, pictured at the dock in New Bedford harbor next to the tugboat Volunteer, is flanked with its double-ended whaleboats. The whaleboats were used to go after whales that had been sighted, and the capture of the whale often ended in a “Nantucket sleighride,” with a harpooned whale towing the small boat until it tired out or died. (Bourne Historical Society.)
Whalemen are depicted here on a “Nantucket sleighride” after shooting a harpoon into a whale and keeping the line fastened to the whaleboat. The whale then drags the boat until it either dies or gets tired enough for the sailors to get close and kill it. This painting is by J.S. Ryder. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)
This photograph shows men on a whaleship with a harpoon stuck fast in a fin whale that is spouting blood. The crew would call out “chimney’s afire!” when the whale began spouting blood and would soon die, so they could begin the work of flensing, or peeling the blubber off of, the whale as soon as possible. (Library of Congress.)
The Thomas W. Lawson, shown at dock in New Bedford, was a seven-masted schooner designed by Bowdoin B. Crowninshield and built in Quincy in 1902. It was 369 feet long and carried 25 sails and was using for transporting oil in bulk. The Thomas W. Lawson was not a whaling ship, but it was an unusual ship involved in the industry and the world’s only seven-masted schooner; it wrecked off the Isles of Scilly in Great Britain in 1907. (Bourne Historical Society.)
A page from the logbook of the bark Three Brothers, captained by James Witherell, shows May 14 (Saturday) and May 15 (Sunday), when the crew saw and caught a sperm whale and then prepared for the cutting-in, which would involve all hands working hard until the whale was completely processed and the oil and whalebone was stored. (Bourne Archives.)
This rendering of the deck and a section of the interior of the whaling bark Alice Knowles of New Bedford shows tryworks and whaleboats on deck and the storage area below deck. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)
This drawing shows the different types of harpoon heads used in the whaling industry. The harpoon—or the iron, as it was called by whalemen—was meant to fasten to the whale and act as a hook that connected the whale to the whaleboat. The killing of the harpooned whale was done with a lance at closer range after the whale tired. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)
The deck of a whaleboat is shown in this diagram created by marine artist Charles Raleigh. A “Nantucket sleighride” was a term used by whalemen to describe what occurs immediately following the harpooning of a whale. The whale, distressed by the harpoon, attempts to flee and drags the boat along with it until it tires or dies. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)
This image shows different pieces of equipment used on a whaling boat. A whaleboat typically held six men and was commanded by a mate who was also known as a boatheader. The crew also included a harpooner and four foremast hands. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)
This 1820 image, called “Dangers of the Whale Fishery,” shows a whaleboat upended by a whale with the crew ending up in the water. Much early marine art showed the dangers of the whaling industry. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)
A group of people stands behind the bones of the head of a whale. Whales are among the largest creatures on Earth, with the size of the blue whale surpassing all known dinosaurs. A blue whale’s heart weighs an average of 400 pounds. (Library of Congress.)
This 1880 map shows the distribution of whales in the world’s whaling grounds at that time; some areas of ocean had already been abandoned due to overfishing at the time this map was made. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)
A piece of scrimshaw shows the whaleship Essex being rammed by a whale. The Nantucket ship Essex, which inspired Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick in 1851, was sunk by a sperm whale in 1820. The crew spent months at sea after losing the ship and even resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. (New Bedford Whaling Museum.)
This portrait shows author Herman Melville. Melville wrote many books about the sea, his most notable was Moby-Dick, which was based on the tale of the whaleship Essex from Nantucket that was captained by George Pollard Jr. Melville wrote many other tales of whaling days and even sailed on whaleships, including the Acushnet, built in Mattapoisett, from which he jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. His first book, Typee (1846), was an account of his life among the natives there. (Library of Congress.)
This early photograph shows Richard Tobias “Toby” Greene, who abandoned the whaleship Acushnet with Herman Melville in the Marquesas Islands in 1842 and who was the model for the title character of Toby in Melville’s novel Typee. Two years after the novel’s publication in 1846, many of the events described therein were corroborated by Greene. (New Bedford Whaling Museum.)
The crew of the Acushnet are listed on this official manifest; Herman Melville’s name is near the bottom of the list. Also on the list is Richard Tobias “Toby” Greene, who jumped ship with Melville in the Marquesas Islands and became the model for the lead figure, Toby, in Melville’s book Typee. (New Bedford Whaling Museum.)
Here, whaling ships sit at dock in New Bedford. While whalers were in the business of hunting and killing whales, sometimes a whale would fight back. There are several incidents of whales attacking ships, with the ship Essex of Nantucket (in 1820) being one of the more famous ones, but also the ship Pocahontas of Tisbury (in 1850), the ship Ann Alexander of New Bedford (in 1851), and the bark Kathleen of New Bedford (in 1902). (Bourne Historical Society.)
The whaleship Desdemona sits at dock in this undated photograph. Beginning in 1833, the Desdemona made 18 voyages hunting for whales. She was built in Middleton, Connecticut, and was lost on her last journey in Hudson Bay in September 1896. (Falmouth Historical Society.)
This undated photograph shows the whaleship Wanderer trying out at night with the fires under the try pots lighting up the deck. Once a whale was caught, the crew would put all possible efforts into the processing of the whale, flensing it, boiling the blubber for oil, and then storing the oil in barrels below decks. (Bourne Historical Society.)
This photograph shows the brig Leonora (foreground) and the bow of the bark Canton (background) at dock in New Bedford. The Leonora, owned and operated by William “Bully” Hayes, was sunk in the harbor of the Pacific island Kosrae on March 15, 1874. Hayes was known as a pirate, slave trader, womanizer, and thief, among other things, and the line in the old sea chanty, “Blow the man down/blow that bully man down,” referred to him. Hayes reportedly left treasure buried on Kosrae and was killed before he could reclaim it. (Bourne Historical Society.)
This c. 1790 map of the Galapagos Islands shows the islands with English names. These islands, part of the country of Ecuador, have since reclaimed their Spanish names. The Galapagos Islands were frequented by whalers from all over as a convenient place to take on fresh supplies and water. They also took turtles and tortoises from the islands in great quantities, resulting in the extinction of at least one species and the decimation of others. (Library of Congress.)
The crew of an unknown whaling ship is shown butchering turtles in 1903. Turtles were originally taken for food on the long whaling journeys, but once it was discovered that turtle oil was particularly refined, the rush was on for whalers to bring back turtle oil. (Library of Congress.)
This photograph shows a tortoise from the Galapagos Islands walking on an unidentified whaling ship. Whaling ships would stop in the Galapagos Islands so crews could gather fresh food and water and perhaps post letters at the old mail barrel. The tortoises offered sailors a source of fresh meat because they could live for long periods of time with no food or water. (Bourne Archives.)
The old mail barrel established by whalers in the 18th century on the island of Floreana in the Galapagos still stands in 2015 but is now used by tourists. Whalemen would drop letters into the barrel as they were traveling outward bound, and whalers traveling toward home would take the letters for delivery to family, friends, and businesses. (Photograph by the author.)
This 1903 photograph shows the remains of turtles taken by whalers for either oil or meat. The turtle population of the Galapagos Islands was decimated by the whaling industry almost to the point of extinction. Careful stewardship by the country of Ecuador has enabled the population to increase and begin to flourish once again. (Library of Congress.)
The 305-ton bark Morning Star of New Bedford, built at Dartmouth in 1853, is “hove to” for repairs in this undated photograph. The Morning Star was in the Galapagos from July 27 to August 5, 1858 and again from June 27 to July 11, 1861. The total catch of tortoises on these trips was 212. The Morning Star returned from its last voyage in 1914. (Bourne Historical Society.)
This undated photograph shows the whaling ship Greyhound under sail. Industrial whaling began with organized fleets in the 17th century, grew with large whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries, and continued with the introduction of factory ships in the first half of the 20th century. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission enacted a moratorium on commercial whaling in order to increase whale populations. (Library of Congress.)
One of the last pages of the logbook for the whaleship Robert Edwards, captained by Nathaniel Burgess, has “Homeward Bound” as part of its heading and tells of heaving the tryworks overboard, probably to make the ship lighter for the trip home. Burgess’ wife, Ann (Cammett), tells of throwing out the last tub of butter upon arrival off Block Island, saying the next journey of the Robert Edwards should have new butter, as the one she tossed overboard was four years old and had been taken on at the beginning of the journey. This was the final whaling journey for Captain Burgess. (Bourne Archives.)
This undated photograph shows whaling captain Nathaniel Burgess of Pocasset. Burgess once found a young stowaway on board; he and his wife, Ann, took him under their wings. That young man was George Bauldry, who later became a whaling captain with his own ship and also served as one of the captains of the Stone Fleet. (Bourne Archives.)
The New Bedford Port Society maintains the historic Seamen’s Bethel (mariners’ chapel) and Mariner’s Home, founded in 1830 and located on the top of Johnny Cake Hill in New Bedford. The pulpit, which is shaped like the bow of a ship and protrudes from the wall, was an invention of author Herman Melville for his famous book Moby-Dick, and this replica created for the 1956 movie was added to the bethel in 1961. (Library of Congress; photograph by Carol M. Highsmith.)
One of the last pages from the logbook of the Three Brothers shows the number of whales struck and caught by each of the smaller whaleboats. The number inside the whale represents the number of barrels of oil processed from each whale. (Bourne Archives.)