Whaling is the hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16th century, it had become the principal industry in the Basque coastal regions of Spain and France. The whaling industry spread throughout the world and became very profitable in terms of trade and resources. Some regions of the world's oceans, along the animals' migration routes, had a particularly dense whale population and became targets for large concentrations of whaling ships, and the industry continued to grow well into the 20th century. The depletion of some whale species to near extinction led to the banning of whaling in many countries by 1969 and to an international cessation of whaling as an industry in the late 1980s.
The Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by the year 1000 and expanded eastward across northern Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region. The appellation "Thule" originates from the location of Thule in northwest Greenland, facing Canada, where the archaeological remains of the people were first found at Comer's Midden.
Aboriginal whaling or indigenous whaling is the hunting of whales by indigenous peoples recognised by either IWC or the hunting is considered as part of indigenous activity by the country. It is permitted under international regulation, but in some countries remains a contentious issue. It is usually considered part of the subsistence economy. In some places, whaling has been superseded by whale watching instead. This article deals with communities that continue to hunt; details about communities that have ended the practice may be found in History of whaling.
This article discusses the history of whaling from prehistoric times up to the commencement of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. Whaling has been an important subsistence and economic activity in multiple regions throughout human history. Commercial whaling dramatically reduced in importance during the 19th century due to the development of alternatives to whale oil for lighting, and the collapse in whale populations. Nevertheless, some nations continue to hunt whales even today.
Shelikhov Gulf is a large gulf off the northwestern coast of Kamchatka, Russia. The gulf is named after Russian explorer Grigory Shelikhov.
Iony Island, or Jonas' Island, formerly Ostrov Svyatogo Iony, is a small island in the Sea of Okhotsk.
Commercial whaling in the United States dates to the 17th century in New England. The industry peaked in 1846–1852, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, sent out its last whaler, the John R. Mantra, in 1927. The Whaling industry was engaged with the production of three different raw materials: whale oil, spermaceti oil, and whalebone. Whale oil was the result of "trying-out" whale blubber by heating in water. It was a primary lubricant for machinery, whose expansion through the Industrial Revolution depended upon before the development of petroleum-based lubricants in the second half of the 19th century. Once the prized blubber and spermaceti had been extracted from the whale, the remaining majority of the carcass was discarded.
The bowhead whale is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and is the only living representative of the genus Balaena. It is the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, and is named after its characteristic massive triangular skull, which it uses to break through Arctic ice. Other common names of the species included the Greenland right whale, Arctic whale, steeple-top, and polar whale.
Capt. George Baker Leavitt Sr. was a Maine-born mariner who captained several whaling vessels out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The steam whalers captained by Leavitt were active in the whaling fishery off the Alaska North Slope, where Leavitt met and married an Inupiaq woman. The mariner befriended many early Arctic explorers, whom he replenished with supplies and provided transportation to, as well as assisted in Arctic exploration. Leavitt Island in the Beaufort Sea's Harrison Bay is named for the early New England whaling captain.
Ulban Bay is a bay in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk, just south of the Shantar Islands. It is a southern branch of Academy Bay to the north. The Syran and Ulban rivers flow into its head.
Nikolaya Bay, formerly Usalginsky Bay, is a small, narrow bay in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk, just south of the Shantar Islands. It is a southeastern branch of the larger Academy Bay to the north. Its northern and southern points, Lamsdorf Point and Cape Grote, are separated by only 8 km (5 mi), while the bay itself is about 59.5 km (37 mi) deep in a southerly direction. The Tokara Peninsula separates it from Ulban Bay to the west. The Usalgin River runs into its head. Spring tides rise 5.5 m (18 ft), while neaps rise 2.4–3 m (8–10 ft). There is ice in the bay from mid-November to mid-July.
Tugur Bay or Tugursky Bay is a large bay in the Tuguro-Chumikansky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Federation.
Subsistence hunting of the bowhead whale is permitted by the International Whaling Commission, under limited conditions. While whaling is banned in most parts of the world, some of the Native peoples of North America, including the Eskimo and Iñupiat peoples in Alaska, continue to hunt the Bowhead whale. Aboriginal whaling is valued for its contribution to food stocks and to cultural survival, although the days of commercial whaling in the United States and in Canada are over.
Mamga Bay is a bay in the Tuguro-Chumikansky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Federation.
Uda Bay is a bay in Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Federation.
Thomas Welcome Roys was an American whaleman. He was significant in the history of whaling in that he discovered the Western Arctic bowhead whale population and developed and patented whaling rockets in order to hunt the faster, more powerful species that had until then eluded European whalers.
Academy Bay is a large bay in the Tuguro-Chumikansky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Federation.
Severo-Vostochnaya Gavan' is a small bay on the north side of Uda Gulf, in the western Sea of Okhotsk. It lies 2.4 km (1.5 mi) west of Cape Nosorog. It offers shelter from northeast gales.
Whaling on the Pacific Northwest Coast encompasses both aboriginal and commercial whaling from Washington State through British Columbia to Alaska. The indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast have whaling traditions dating back millennia, and the hunting of cetaceans continues by Alaska Natives and to a lesser extent by the Makah people.
Whaling in Canada encompasses both aboriginal and commercial whaling, and has existed on all three Canadian oceans, Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic. The indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast have whaling traditions dating back millennia, and the hunting of cetaceans continues by Inuit. By the late 20th century, watching whales was a more profitable enterprise than hunting them.
