Business Industry | Industry

Whaling in New England

Credit: Library of Congress Photo Collection, 1840-2000/Ancestry.com
Sperm whales were a particularly valuable catch, but hunting them was extremely dangerous as they were so large and powerful.
Starting in the 1780s, the whaling industry took New England by storm.

Shipyards, workshops, as well as factories churning out corsets, whale oil, candles, and perfume dominated the New England coastline during the whaling industry's golden age starting in the late 1700s. Whaling captured the American imagination, inspiring a new genre of literature and a generation of young men to take to the high seas in one of the most dangerous trades of its time. Journeys lasting years on end were riddled with danger-disease, poor diets, and other hazards defined daily life for the crews of 15 to 20 men and boys, many under the age of 16. By the 1850s, New Bedford, Massachusetts, surpassed the island of Nantucket as the country's whaling center. It boasted a fleet of nearly 350 vessels and 10,000 men in 1857. But by the 1860s, the discovery of petroleum and the near extinction of the sperm and right whales from overhunting led to the industry's rapid decline.

Credit: Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images
No experience necessary: many crewmembers who took to the high seas didn't know how to swim, which became a problem when even a seriously wounded whale was powerful enough to snap a boat in half, tossing men overboard.

 

Credit: Buyenlarge/Archive Photos/Getty Images
"We have to work like horses and live like pigs," one crewmember explained. Whaling ships often traveled to the far reaches of the globe in the dangerous pursuit of leviathans. Though extremely lucrative, sailors stood to make little despite the risks.|

 

Credit: De Agostini Picture Library/De Agostini/De Agostini/Getty Images
Whaling boats were mobile factories. As soon as whales were caught, crewmembers harvested their blubber. The fat was chopped up and placed in large pots to extract the oil, creating plumes of smoke visible 30 miles away.

 

Credit: UniversalImagesGroup/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Outside of New England harbors, local factories producing goods derived from whales turned a profit. During the 1800s, beyond illuminating the U.S. and Europe with oil lamps, whale oil found itself in everyday products like soaps and perfumes.