"The catch of the Eclipse, generally known as the Old Eclipse, shows one the way in which the Greenland whale was being killed off; most of her 22 fish were what were called 'nursery' whales, fish that did not exceed more than 30 feet in length and had not long been weaned. These were very easily killed; in deed, out of the 22, the Eclipse was stated to have killed 15 at a fall (i.e. at a single lowering of the boats). These nursery whales were generally found in the Polar ice to the northwards of 80° at the end of June and after. As far back as 1790, when ships had begun to be fortified or strengthened for penetrating the ice, the slaughter of these nursery whales had begun, and it is not surprising that such tactics as killing off the young fish should have practically exterminated the Greenland whale." (p. 343)
from "The Arctic Whalers" by Basil Lubbock
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
God's wrath
Plagues are bible-grade events. Highly infectious diseases that increase the mortality rate of a population qualify as a biblical event. Right now, we're in the center of one.
I live in a Christian world. Religions like Christianity provide much needed structure and meaning to people's lives. Why? They reduce uncertainty. Religion maps onto a world full of circumstantial tragedies a gridwork with a narrative direction. Acts of good faith garner the love of God. Conversely, God visits wrath upon acts of evil. But most importantly, God is a mystery.
Armed with the best in epidemiological science we have discovered that our plague originated in a mammal-jumping virus that infected a person butchering a pangolin in a wet market in China.
This act of discovering the route of virus transmission and its ground zero event does something to demystify the potential religious potential to re-signify a plague as the ubiquitous condemnation of a people by God for their wayward activities.
How are we to suggest that Covid-19 is God's punishment for our sins against a pangolin in a Chinese wet market?
The success of a virus depends upon its route of communication. And so goes efforts to fight infection rates. Like many viruses this one succeeds where people come into direct contact. People revert to living as anchorites, religiously following a routine to avoid infection. Those that endeavor to enter the public for basic necessities may resort to wearing a mask and gloves to avoid contagion. And it is in this gesture that we find a removal of a prime interface for the public and the production of 'normal' relations. As the expressive features of the face and body are covered, a psychological effect of walling off identity and 'communication' occur. It is in this confluence of the term for both sharing information and spreading disease that we find a very potent metaphor and reality concerning disease. Given the social nature of humans the diseases that we spread have evolved to take advantage of that pathway, to pass through normal, day-to-day contact.
I live in a Christian world. Religions like Christianity provide much needed structure and meaning to people's lives. Why? They reduce uncertainty. Religion maps onto a world full of circumstantial tragedies a gridwork with a narrative direction. Acts of good faith garner the love of God. Conversely, God visits wrath upon acts of evil. But most importantly, God is a mystery.
Armed with the best in epidemiological science we have discovered that our plague originated in a mammal-jumping virus that infected a person butchering a pangolin in a wet market in China.
This act of discovering the route of virus transmission and its ground zero event does something to demystify the potential religious potential to re-signify a plague as the ubiquitous condemnation of a people by God for their wayward activities.
How are we to suggest that Covid-19 is God's punishment for our sins against a pangolin in a Chinese wet market?
The success of a virus depends upon its route of communication. And so goes efforts to fight infection rates. Like many viruses this one succeeds where people come into direct contact. People revert to living as anchorites, religiously following a routine to avoid infection. Those that endeavor to enter the public for basic necessities may resort to wearing a mask and gloves to avoid contagion. And it is in this gesture that we find a removal of a prime interface for the public and the production of 'normal' relations. As the expressive features of the face and body are covered, a psychological effect of walling off identity and 'communication' occur. It is in this confluence of the term for both sharing information and spreading disease that we find a very potent metaphor and reality concerning disease. Given the social nature of humans the diseases that we spread have evolved to take advantage of that pathway, to pass through normal, day-to-day contact.
Sunday, March 15, 2020
A July 27, 1823 Killing Field
"The result of this slaughter of whales was vividly described in the Cumbrian's log of July 27: 'We were turning south along the land floes in hopes of fish. Here and there along the floe edge lay the dead bodies of hundreds of flenched whales, and the air for miles around was tainted with the fætor which rose from such masses of putridity. Towards evening, the numbers come across were even increasing, and the effluvia which then assailed our olfactories became almost intolerable'" (pp. 254-255).
from "The Arctic Whalers" by Basil Lubbock
from "The Arctic Whalers" by Basil Lubbock
May 28, 1823: An 'Unsuspicious' Fish
"On May 28 the Cumbrian captured a very unsuspicious fish whilst lying to in a pool of water with seven sail in company. This whale, after swimming all round the ship, at length put her nose to the bow, and for about two minutes attempted to push the ship along. Whilst she was occupied in this strange fashion she was harpooned" (p. 253).
from "The Arctic Whalers" by Basil Lubbock
from "The Arctic Whalers" by Basil Lubbock
Friday, March 6, 2020
The Fishing Season, 1811.
"By this date, quite two-thirds of the whalers went to Davis Straits where the season was a close one. The Greenland fleet found the ice barrier hard to get through, and a few ships reached the fishing ground before May 26. A good run of whales was met with in Lats. 78° and 79°, but, as in past years, many of the ships took toll of undersized fish and even suckling calves" (p. 188)
from The Arctic Whalers by Basil Lubbock
from The Arctic Whalers by Basil Lubbock
The Fishing Season, 1808.
"This is the first of a series of record years, in which the most prodigious slaughter of whales took place" (p. 181).
"The first arrival from the fishery was the Henrietta (Captain Kearsly) on June 12, after an absence of only 85 days, having left the ice on May 22. She was a very full ship with 21 whales on board, the blubber of 7 of them being uncasked."
...
"There was general rejoicing in the fishing ports when ship after ship began to arrive with a bumper cargo and brought excellent reports of the fishing. It was soon seen that the season would prove the best on record.
Not a single ship in the whole fleet had less than 10 whales. The Aurora (Captain Sadler) arrived from Greenland with 38 fish, making 700 butts or 264 tons of oil; whilst the Samuels (Captain Marshall) arrived from Davis Straits on the same day (July 29) with 20 fish, making 278 tons of oil and 10 tons of bone. The Ellison (Captain Holberry) arrived from Greenland on August 12, with 30 fish, 550 butts, and the Walker (Captain Sadler, late of the Molly) arrived from Greenland on August 5 with 27 whales, 530 butts. The Resolution (Captain Scoresby) with 27 fish was the best of the Whitby ships, the William and Ann (Captain Johnston), with 25 fish, coming next.
The Middleton (Captain Johnston) was the best fished of the Newcastle ships with 31. The Dundee of London had 28 fish; the Lively of Berwick, 25; the Hope of Peterhead (Captain Geary), 30 fish; and the Enterprise of Peterhead (Captain Volum), 27 fish.
The Grimsby ships were both full, the Birnie, with 18 whales, being the second ship to arrive from Greenland.
Of the 4 Aberdeen ships, the best fished was the Neptune which came home with 26 fish, one of them in bulk. The Hercules (Captain Gibbon) was also full.
Of the 7 Dundee ships, the Rodney was full, with 12 fish; Horn had 9 and Mary 9. Of the 7 Leith whalers, the best fished was the Thomas and Ann (Captain Newton), full up with 18 whales. The North Star had the misfortune to be burnt on the passage out on March 30. The Lion of Liverpool had 19 fish, boiling 130 tons. The Lady Jane of Newcastle brought home the crew of the British ship Adventure, which after discharging a cargo at one of the Danish Greenland Settlements, was lost on the passage home.
When entering port, whalers emptied their guns by discharging them. On August 7, whilst the Isabella was carrying out this operation, one of her crew had his arm blown off.
During the summer, in spite of the large cargoes brought in, whale oil was fetching from £26 to £27 a ton, but before the winter, owing chiefly to the great continental demand caused by the war and the lack of European whalers, the price had risen £10."
(pp. 182-183)
from The Arctic Whalers by Basil Lubbock
"The first arrival from the fishery was the Henrietta (Captain Kearsly) on June 12, after an absence of only 85 days, having left the ice on May 22. She was a very full ship with 21 whales on board, the blubber of 7 of them being uncasked."
...
"There was general rejoicing in the fishing ports when ship after ship began to arrive with a bumper cargo and brought excellent reports of the fishing. It was soon seen that the season would prove the best on record.
Not a single ship in the whole fleet had less than 10 whales. The Aurora (Captain Sadler) arrived from Greenland with 38 fish, making 700 butts or 264 tons of oil; whilst the Samuels (Captain Marshall) arrived from Davis Straits on the same day (July 29) with 20 fish, making 278 tons of oil and 10 tons of bone. The Ellison (Captain Holberry) arrived from Greenland on August 12, with 30 fish, 550 butts, and the Walker (Captain Sadler, late of the Molly) arrived from Greenland on August 5 with 27 whales, 530 butts. The Resolution (Captain Scoresby) with 27 fish was the best of the Whitby ships, the William and Ann (Captain Johnston), with 25 fish, coming next.
The Middleton (Captain Johnston) was the best fished of the Newcastle ships with 31. The Dundee of London had 28 fish; the Lively of Berwick, 25; the Hope of Peterhead (Captain Geary), 30 fish; and the Enterprise of Peterhead (Captain Volum), 27 fish.
The Grimsby ships were both full, the Birnie, with 18 whales, being the second ship to arrive from Greenland.
Of the 4 Aberdeen ships, the best fished was the Neptune which came home with 26 fish, one of them in bulk. The Hercules (Captain Gibbon) was also full.
Of the 7 Dundee ships, the Rodney was full, with 12 fish; Horn had 9 and Mary 9. Of the 7 Leith whalers, the best fished was the Thomas and Ann (Captain Newton), full up with 18 whales. The North Star had the misfortune to be burnt on the passage out on March 30. The Lion of Liverpool had 19 fish, boiling 130 tons. The Lady Jane of Newcastle brought home the crew of the British ship Adventure, which after discharging a cargo at one of the Danish Greenland Settlements, was lost on the passage home.
When entering port, whalers emptied their guns by discharging them. On August 7, whilst the Isabella was carrying out this operation, one of her crew had his arm blown off.
During the summer, in spite of the large cargoes brought in, whale oil was fetching from £26 to £27 a ton, but before the winter, owing chiefly to the great continental demand caused by the war and the lack of European whalers, the price had risen £10."
(pp. 182-183)
from The Arctic Whalers by Basil Lubbock
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Exterminating the Greenland Whale
The Greenland ships were still killing immature fish; whilst 193 whales killed by 19 Davis Straits ships produced 2803 tons of oil and 117 tons of bone, the 281 whales killed by 19 Greenland ships only produced 2235 tons of oil and 62 tons of bone. Again we have the Aurora (Captain "But" Sadler) killing 26 whales, boiling out 244 tons of oil and 9 tons of bone, as against the Samuels', whose 15 whales boiled out 247 tons of oil and 81/2 tons of bone.
These figures give one a hint of the way in which the Greenland whale, though still very prolific, was rapidly being exterminated.
(p. 169)
A Hull advertisement which provides further evidence of the wholesale killing of immature fish runs as follows:
(From The Arctic Whalers by Basil Lubbock)
These figures give one a hint of the way in which the Greenland whale, though still very prolific, was rapidly being exterminated.
(p. 169)
A Hull advertisement which provides further evidence of the wholesale killing of immature fish runs as follows:
FOR SALE BY PRIVATE CONTRACT.
Whale Oil Ready for Delivery.
About 50 tons of whale oil of superior quality being part of the produce of 22 fish under 7 feet 6 inches bone.
(Signed) CHRIS BRIGGS
Hull, July, 1805.(p. 170)
(From The Arctic Whalers by Basil Lubbock)
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