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Early Whaling Industries
One of the first shore whaling industries is established in Southampton, Long Island. This industry is manned by Native Americans, who are paid by pilgrims based on how much oil they bring back. -
Early Whaling Communities
Small, seaside communities are established in Nantucket. These communities are made up of English settlers and Native Americans. These communities also begin to pop up on Long Island and along the coasts of Connecticut and Rhode Island. -
The First Sperm Whale is Killed
A Nantucket man, Christopher Hussey, kills the island's first sperm whale. This causes an increase in deep-ocean whaling and a specialization in the hunting of sperm whales. -
The Search for Whales Around the World
"Whale-rich" waters were found off the coasts of South America. There was also an increase in the popularity of the Pacific Ocean for American whaling vessels. During this year, a British whaling ship became the first to sail around Cape Horn in search of whales. -
Searching for Whales
The onshore grounds of Nantucket became depleted of whales, however, a Nantucket ship discovers densely populated waters more than 1,000 miles from the South American coast. -
New Whaling Opportunities
A Sag Harbor whaling captain opens the arctic to American whalers. The eagerness of people to get to this location and whale causes a rapid decrease in arctic whale populations. -
The First Mention of Environmental Consciousness
There was a letter submitted to the Honolulu Friend by a "Polar Whale". The "whale" writes about the "murdering in cold blood" of his peers and poses a question to readers, "Must our race become extinct?" -
Economic Benefits
All the profits from whale oil and baleen have allowed New Bedford to become the wealthiest city per capita in the country. This year (1853) was the industry's most profitable yet, with whale product sales bringing in $11 million. -
Technological Advancements
Factory ships were developed. This allowed people to travel further distances, in shorter times, on bigger boats. This allowed for whaling companies to generate more product by making more trips and killing more whales. -
The Whale Population- numbers
Between the years of 1900-1960 over 300,000 sperm whales alone were killed. The populations of many different whale species were rapidly declining and on the verge of extinction. -
Commercial Whaling Ban
The International Whaling Commission issued a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. As prior to this, whaling was not being done sustainability and many of the whale populations were on the verge of extinction. -
Whaling Today
The moratorium is still in place today, which has allowed the numbers of whale populations around the world to increase. For example, blue whales are increasing by 8.2% a year. However, despite this increase, blue whales are still considered an endangered species. Similar to the blue whale, many other species are still endangered, which is why it is important that whales continue to be protected.