The success of the 'Eclipse.'

"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