Brief History of Whaling

Whale hunting dates back to prehistoric and medieval times. Whaling as an industry began around the 11th Century when the Basques started hunting and trading the products from the northern right whale (now one of the most endangered of the great whales). They were followed first by the Dutch and the British, and later by the Americans, Norwegians and many other nations. The United States joined the whale hunt in the 18th century, and by the 1830s was a prominent whaling nation. Early US whaling focused on the right whales and humpbacks (1,3)

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Pre-industrial whalinng began in the 1800s, when whalers used sailing ships and hand-thrown harpoons to hunt grey whales and North Pacific right whales. By the end of the 19th century, these two species of whales had been nearly extinguished (1,3)

The development of modern whaling techniques was spurred in the 19th century by the increase in demand for whale oil, sometimes known as "train oil" and in the 20th century by a demand for margarine and later meat (1.3)

Throughout the first half of the 20th century more whaling stations were opened. Since whales migrate world-wide through both coastal waters and the open oceans, the need for international cooperation in their conservation became evident (1,3).

By the late 20th century, it was becoming very hard to find many species of whales and a world-wide moratorium on whaling was instituted in 1982 by the International Whaling Commission.

Gray Whale, (http://www.farnorthscience.com/2007/07/24/marine-mammals/noise-threatens-last-western-gray-whales/)

Many species are still recovering from whaling. Although the Eastern North Pacific Gray Whale stock has recovered to sustainable levels, the western stock remains endangered, with a population of as low as 100 whales (24).