Everything about Whaling In Western Australia totally explained
Whaling in Western Australia was one of the first viable industries established in the
Swan River Colony following the arrival of
British settlers in 1829. The industry had numerous ups and downs until the last whaling station closed in
Albany in 1978.
There are two main species of
whales (
order Cetacea) which form aggregations along the Western Australian coastline: the
Southern Right Whale (
Eubalaena australis), and the
Humpback Whale (
Megaptera novaeangliae). The Southern Rights are slow swimmers and their carcases tend to float due to the high concentration of oil in the blubber - hence the name "right" as it made the task of the whale chasers easier. Its conservation status is now listed as "endangered" as result of more than 150 years of hunting. Both species migrated along the north-south coastline stopping in bays such as
Geographe Bay (east of
Cape Naturaliste) and
Flinders Bay (east of
Cape Leeuwin) for mating and breeding. Other species occasionally caught were
Sperm Whales and
Blue Whales, although these tended to be seen mainly along the southern coast of
Western Australia.
Early days
By
1837, two whaling companies were operating: the
Fremantle Whaling Company out of Bather's Beach below the
Round House gaol in
Fremantle and the
Perth Whaling Company which was based on
Carnac Island. The first whale was caught by the combined efforts of the two companies on
10 June 1837. An account of the incident is given by
George Fletcher Moore in his book
Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia:
This day will be memorable in the annals of the Colony for the killing of the first whale. At Perth, great firing was heard in the direction of Fremantle and it was supposed that a ship had arrived, but a messenger came in breathless haste to say that boats had struck a whale and were engaged with it. This was all that was known when I came away but everyone was running about elated with the news; I went to Fremantle on Thursday with the Governor and others, to examine a jetty and proposed tunnel which has been projected to be cut through a hill there giving an easy access from the beach to the main street. The plan is quite practicable and not very expensive for the distance is only eighty yards and the rock is soft limestone.
The Fremantle Whaling Company had been established in February of that year. A few weeks after the whale was caught, permission was given for the tunnel's construction using prisoners for the labour. The tunnel provided direct access to the Town of
Fremantle for the sale of whale goods to the community.
In 1837, the first year of operations,
whaling had generated export revenue of £3,000 from 100 tons of oil and 5 tons of whalebone. The next largest export commodity was
wool which earned £1,784. Meanwhile however,
American whalers earned £30,000 from catches along the
Western Australian coastline in the same year. Large numbers of
Yankee Whalers, as they were known, as well as French vessels, frequently operated close inshore including inside
Cockburn Sound, causing conflicts with Western Australian based whale chasers. There were numerous incidents of close quarter conflicts between the various companies. Governor
James Stirling was lobbied to remove the foreign vessels.
Major work on the history and archaeology of the early
whaling industry in
Western Australia, as well as relations between Colonists and American pelagic whalers, and between both groups and coastal
Aboriginal peoples, has been undertaken by Dr Martin Gibbs of the
University of Sydney.
Yankee whalers were known to have been operating in the
Indian Ocean since 1789 and had been inside
King George Sound before the end of 1828.
The town of
Dunsborough in
Geographe Bay evolved from the establishment of the
Castle Rock Whaling Station in 1845. During the
convict era of Western Australia, many of the ships which brought convicts to the state were whalers, and would revert to their whaling operations for the return voyage.
Legislation was passed in 1860 prohibiting unlicensed whalers from operating in
Western Australian waters. However, few foreign vessels heeded the supposed restriction. At about the same time though,
petroleum oil was discovered in
Pennsylvania which caused whale oil prices to crash. Approximately 4,000 whales were caught in that period.
The
Albany Whaling Company operated at Frenchman's Bay east of
Albany from 1947 until 1950. It took only six
humpback whales.
The
Cheynes Beach Whaling Company started at Frenchman Bay in 1952. Initially the station was granted a quota of only 50 humpbacks, but this was increased and at its peak, the company took between 900 and 1100
Sperm and
Humpback whales each year for processing. However, there was a ban on humpback whaling from 1963 which decreased the viability of the catch.
Cheynes Beach struggled commercially for several years prior to its closure in 1978 because of increased fuel costs and dwindling stocks. Environmental lobbying finally brought an end to the industry which had been an important contributor to the economy for 140 years and the last whale was taken on
20 November 1978. The final season's catch had 698 sperm whales, 15 short of its quota set by the
International Whaling Commission. It was the last whaling station in Australia.
Cheynes Beach Whaling Station is now called
Whale World, a popular tourist destination.
Whale watching from Albany centres on humpback whales close to shore.
Sperm whales are rarely seen as their migratory path takes them no closer than to the coast.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Whaling In Western Australia'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://whaling_in_western_australia.totallyexplained.com">Whaling in Western Australia Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
