Overview of North American Whaling
Trace the history of American whaling from Native American beginnings through the early settlers performing shore whaling, on to the rise and fall of the Yankee whaling fleets. Yankee whalers traveled the world in search of their quarry. Become familiar with the diverse, polyglot cultures that participated at home and abroad; the tools and ships of the trade; life aboard the ship; the variety of whales, why and how they were hunted and search a glossary of whaling terms.
Learn the early beginnings of American whaling through to the Great Age of Yankee Whaling. Get a sense of the challenges and changes that spelled the decline of the whaling fleet.
An introduction to the essential tools – the vessels – and terminology used aboard a whaling voyage.
Learn about the isolated society and daily life aboard a whaleship. Look at the holidays and festivities at sea and look at family life at sea.
Learn about which whales were hunted and why; how they were captured and processed and how technology changed the industry.
Learn about scrimshaw, the most well-known whaler’s art. Look at the most famous of all whaling literature, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick
