Whaling

Whaling

“I accompanied the whale-fishers on several expeditions to the North Sea…” (pg. 3)

The profession of whaling was once a very popular and lucrative career. Crews of men would set off into the ocean to hunt for whales. Whales were hunted to make whale oil and later for their meat. Whaling was a very dangerous activity and often not rewarding as the crews would occasionally search for months only to return home empty handed (if they returned at all). The most famous representation of whaling is Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, the story of grizzly Captain Ahab and his unhealthy obsession for hunting down the great white that took his leg. While popular from the 17th century all the way through the early 20th century, whaling has since dropped off due to the cruelty and declining whale populations.