Naturally, the technological improvements which make whaling profitable again would have been meaningless without the discovery of new whaling grounds. About 1900 the seas around the antarctic continent were found to be teeming with whales. These were principally three species—the humpback, the finback, and the blue. The blue whale is distinguished by the fact that it is the largest mammal on earth, reaching sometimes 100 feet in length and weighing over 100 tons. It is the species preferred by whalers but it is not as plentiful as its close relative, the finback, which is the second largest species, ranging in length from 60 to 80 feet. The humpback whale has never been too abundant, but along with the rorqual, or Sei whale, it has provided an extra dividend for the business.
The extreme richness of the antarctic whaling grounds is due to the fact that the entire perimeter of the continent is open to oceanic waters, allowing whales free access to a tremendous area of fertile waters. The limited richness of the arctic whaling grounds is due to the fact that the Arctic Icecap is flanked principally by the land masses of Eurasia and North America and the whales have access only to those portions opening from the Bering Sea and to a small area in the North Atlantic. Whales cannot swim too far in along the coast of either mainland because the period of open water is brief. Even in the antarctic whales tend to work near the ice floes and occasionally get caught by the sudden closures of the ice.
It is too difficult to estimate the number of whales which were taken from the arctic during the many seasons that whalers worked there. However, it cannot compare with the numbers which are realized annually from the slaughter around Antarctica. As many as 45,000 whales have been taken in a brief whaling season of less than 2 months. Contracting governments under provision of the International Agreement For Regulation of Whaling enforce the regulations as regards the number taken and there is a penalty if a juvenile whale is killed. Nursing mothers are also protected. The regulations are made by the International Whaling Commission and the number of whales which can be taken each year is determined from the statistics of the populations and these quotas are recommended by the Commission. It is hoped that by these regulations and studies, the industry can continue to prosper. The problems and activities of the scientists, the majority of whom work for the various governments’ agencies, will be considered shortly.
Blubber ready to process at the Moss Landing, Calif., whaling shore station, photographed 1919. Courtesy San Francisco Maritime Museum Association.
Example of Unregulated Whaling
California Gray Whale
No account of whaling would be complete without mention of the shore and lagoon whaling of the California gray whale. There were 11 shore whaling stations scattered along the coast of California from San Simeon to San Diego, which had two stations. This whaling dates back to the gold rush days of California. It was not an uncommon experience for a whaling ship to come from the east and then to lose the entire crew in San Francisco before they could get on into the North Pacific to whale.
Although the principal profit for these whalers came from the arctic bowhead, it was customary to return to San Francisco to resupply in the autumn, and then to whale the California gray during the winter migration. Of course, this was whaling made to order because there was no need to search. The shore stations were able to process more whales in a day than a vessel could in a month of routine searching. Captain Scammon followed the migrating whales to the lagoons where he found them calving. These lagoons became the headquarters for the whaling ships which found whaling even easier than they had along the migration route. One of these lagoons still bears Scammon’s name.
It was possible to watch the killing of whales from Point Loma, and from this vantage point the whaling boats were directed by flag signals to their quarry. The whales, once killed, were towed, tide permitting, by the hard rowing of the whaling crews back to Ballast Point. The numerous California shore stations have long since closed and rotted away and the grounds occupied with new enterprises. Most of the details of this era are lost, forever or buried in yellowing manuscripts and newspapers.