"Though the Greenland whale was scarcer and harder to catch every year, it is interesting to note that the Norwegians had been killing a few of the almost extinct Biscay right whales during the past year or two to the southward of Iceland. In 1889, 1 was caught; in 1890 6; and in 1891, 10. During 1892, every whaler was on the lookout for them, but none were seen, and it seemed likely that the Norwegians had killed off the only school in existence.
Discouraged by their want of success in the Arctic, the four Dundee whalers, Active, Balaena, Diana, and Polar Star, sailed in September, 1892, for the Antarctic in search of the southern right whale, but their voyage was an absolute failure, and they had to cut their loss by filling up with seals. Their most interesting adventure was the Active's endeavour to kill a blue whale. The fish towed the whaler and her three boats, with 6 lines out, for 14 hours; the ship then put her engines astern and the lines broke." (p. 426)
From The Arctic Whalers by Basil Lubbock
Of note in this passage is a reference to the enterprise of whaling and how it spawned various other arctic expeditions. Some led to better mapping and naturalistic examination of the Arctic landscape. Some led to the expansion of the hunt to include seals, porpoises, bears, foxes, narwhal, and beluga as the correct, or 'right,' whales were all hunted to scarce enough numbers to make whaling for them alone a financial loss. The majority of Arctic produce was the blubber found on the various large mammals there, which was boiled down into oil. In addition, some were also hunted for their beautiful white skin, in the case of the beluga, or pelts, in the case of walruses, seals, bears, and foxes. Finally, their bone, chiefly the whale's baleen and jaw bone, the walruses' tusk, and the narwhal's 'unicorn' were all prized by markets in Europe eager to turn these into various fine and useful products for homes that could afford them.
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