- Whaling in Western Australia
Whaling inWestern Australia was one of the first viable industries established in theSwan 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
whale s (order "Cetacea ") which form aggregations along the Western Australian coastline: the Southern Right Whale ("Eubalaena australis"), and theHumpback 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 asGeographe Bay (east ofCape Naturaliste ) andFlinders Bay (east ofCape Leeuwin ) for mating and breeding. Other species occasionally caught wereSperm Whales andBlue Whales , although these tended to be seen mainly along the southern coast ofWestern Australia .Early days
By
1837 , two whaling companies were operating: the Fremantle Whaling Company out of Bather's Beach below theRound House gaol in Fremantle and the Perth Whaling Company which was based onCarnac Island . The first whale was caught by the combined efforts of the two companies on10 June 1837 . An account of the incident is given byGeorge 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 waswool which earned £1,784. Meanwhile however, American whalers earned £30,000 from catches along theWestern Australian coastline in the same year. [cite book|title=Western Australia : A History from its Discovery to the Inauguration of the Commonwealth|author=Battye, J.S.|publisher=Oxford|year=1924] Large numbers of "Yankee Whalers", as they were known, as well as French vessels, frequently operated close inshore including insideCockburn Sound , causing conflicts with Western Australian based whale chasers. There were numerous incidents of close quarter conflicts between the various companies. GovernorJames Stirling was lobbied to remove the foreign vessels.cite book|title=Western Australia's Tempestuous History|author=Nairn, John|year=1986|publisher=Hesperion Press|location=Carlisle, Vic|isbn=0-85905-090-4]Major work on the history and archaeology of the early
whaling industry inWestern Australia , as well as relations between Colonists and American pelagic whalers, and between both groups and coastalAboriginal peoples, has been undertaken by Dr Martin Gibbs of theUniversity of Sydney .Yankee whalers were known to have been operating in theIndian Ocean since 1789 and had been insideKing George Sound before the end of 1828. A stone structure known as "Sealers' Oven " (c. 1800) near Albany is further evidence of this.By 1840, increased competition and a decline in international
whale oil and bone prices and increased costs led to the two companies' closures. Some of thewhale boats were used for ferry services on the Swan River. An improvement in commodity prices in 1843 saw operations recommence, and in 1844whaling products comprised nearly 40% of the total value of the State’s exports. It is estimated that in 1845 there were approximately 300 American, French, British andAustralia nwhaling ships operating off the south coast of Australia with numerous shore stations.cite web|url=http://www.whaleworld.org/About_Whale_World/Whaling_History/Whaling_in_Albany/|title=Whaling in Albany|work=Whale World|accessdate=2006-09-22]The town of Dunsborough in
Geographe Bay evolved from the establishment of the Castle Rock Whaling Station in 1845. During theconvict 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 Australia n waters. However, few foreign vessels heeded the supposed restriction. At about the same time though,petroleum oil was discovered inPennsylvania which caused whale oil prices to crash. Only a few vessels were still operating at the turn of the century.Throughout the 19th century, descendants of Robert and Ann Heppingstone, who had arrived in the colony in the "Warrior" in 1830 were prominent in the industry. Members of the family operated whalers in and around
Fremantle . A granddaughter, Ellen Heppingstone marriedAlf Bussell and settled in Augusta atFlinders Bay . Flinders Bay also known to some locals as 'The Whaling' became an important whaling centre during the period.Twentieth century
The Western Australian Government granted a license to a Norwegian company in 1912 to operate whaling stations at Frenchman Bay near Albany and
Point Cloates (then known as "Norwegian Bay") offNorth West Cape . The company traded profitably for a number of years by making use of the recently invented explodingharpoon and gun on steam powered chaser boats, rather than the oldtoggling harpoon s.cite web|url=http://www.whales.org.au/published/whalemen/forward.html|title=Recent Whaling|work=www.whales.org.au|author=R.G.Chittleborough|accessdate=2006-09-22] Approximately 4,000 whales were caught in that period.A poor whaling season in 1916 amid pressures brought on by
World War I , forced the company to close down.In the early 1930s, the station at Point Cloates began servicing Norwegian whaling ships again, but again, closure was brought on by the start of
World War II . Expanded use of factory ships and support chasers also lessened the need for shore based services.After the war, in July 1949, the Nor'-West Whaling Company reopened the station.
In September 1950, the Australian Government commenced whaling itself as the Australian Whaling Commission in a whaling station at
Babbage Island near Carnarvon. The operation ran until 1955, when the station was sold to Nor'-West Whaling Company, which closed down its Point Cloates station and relocated to the Carnarvon site. Nor'-West was later renamed as 'Nor-West Seafoods' and converted the whaling station into a factory for processing prawns. The company continues today as a prawn processor as well as operating seasonal whale and dolphin watching tours. [cite web|url=http://www.westaustralianvista.com/history-of-carnarvon.html|title=History of Carnarvon|work=www.westaustralianvista.com|accessdate=2007-04-11] [cite web|url=http://www.norwestseafoods.com.au/TheCompany.html|work=Nor-West Seafoods.com|title=The Company|accessdate=2007-04-11]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 whale s 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 theInternational 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 whale s are rarely seen as their migratory path takes them no closer than convert|30|nmi|km|-1 to the coast.ee also
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Whaling in Australia Notes
References
*cite journal|last=Suter|first=Keith D.|year=1982|month=October|title=Australia's new whaling policy : Formulation and implementation|journal=Marine Policy|volume=6|issue=4|pages=287–302|doi=10.1016/0308-597X(82)90004-5
*cite web|url=http://www.bigvolcano.com.au/human/whaling.htm|author=Max Egan|year=1995|title=Australian Whaling History|accessdate=2006-09-22
*cite journal|author=Heppingstone, I.D.|year=1966|title=Bay whaling in Western Australia|journal=Early Days - Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Historical Society of Western Australia|volume=6|chapter=5|pages=29–41
* [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fauna-of-australia/pubs/calaby/cal-whal.pdf A bibliography of Whaling in Australia]Further reading
*cite book | author = Gibbs, M. | year = 1996 | title = The Historical Archaeology of Shore-based Whaling in Western Australia 1836-1879 (Ph.D. thesis) | publisher = Centre for Archaeology, University of Western Australia.
*cite book | author = Gibbs, M. | year = 1998 | chapter = Colonial Boats and Foreign Ships: The Historical Archaeology of Shore-Based Whaling in Western Australia 1836-1879 | pages = 36–47 | editor = M. Staniforth and S. Lawrence (Eds) | title = Proceedings of the First Australian Southern Whaling Conference
*cite journal | author = Gibbs, M. | year = 2000 | title = Conflict and Commerce – American Whalers and the Western Australian Colonies 1836-1888 | journal = The Great Circle – Journal of the Australian Society for Maritime History | volume = 22 | issue = 3
*cite journal | author = Gibbs, M. | year = 2005 | title = Food on the Maritime Frontier: Faunal analysis of the Cheyne Beach Whaling Station 1845-1877 | journal = Australasian Journal of Historical Archaeology
*cite journal | author = Gibbs, M. | year = 2003 | title = Nebinyan’s Song – the Aboriginal whalers of southwest Western Australia | journal = Aboriginal History | volume = 27
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