The 1890s: Expanding the hunt to any species that offered any value

In his book 'The Arctic Whalers' Basil Lubbock uses the logs of whaling vessels to describe the hardships, adventures, and varying catches of whaling from the late 1700s through the early 20th c. The conclusions that Lubbock draws from his research draw a clear picture about Arctic whaling. The weather made the hunt highly variable, and even in the earliest whaling logs, some ships came home 'clean,' having caught not a single whale. Secondly, the "prodigious slaughter" of such whales, especially in their calving grounds led to the decline and disappearance of the Greenland whale from the historical fishing grounds where whalers knew to find them. Advances in technology, such as the introduction of steam powered whaling ships, the reinforcement of hulls for penetrating ice, and rocket- or gunpowder-powered harpoons all increased what was soon becoming an ever dwindling catch. By the 1890s whales were scarce and whalers increasingly turned to other arctic species, from seals and walruses to reindeer, beluga, and even bottlenose dolphins, many of which were hunted for pelts or for their blubber, which was boiled down into oil.

This slaughter of Arctic species may have had an adverse effect upon Eskimo communities native to these arctic regions and dependent upon some of the same animals for food and materials. The introduction of novel infections, through close contact, and the wholesale destruction of the food web, perhaps may have caused local extinctions of Eskimo communities. As this description demonstrates:

"Again this year, a number of dead Eskimos were discovered; the mate of the Terra Nova came across about 30 skeletons in Dexterity Bay, the women and children lying separate to the men, alongside of whom lay their fishing and hunting gear, while the children's toys and tiny weapons were beside their bodies" (p. 421). 

The expansion of arctic hunting and the institutional momentum defined by ship investments, a specially trained labor force, and markets where arctic oil, pelts, and ivory provided a perennial demand ensured that whaling expeditions would turn a profit by hook or by crook.

Lubbock writes:

"At the beginning of the 'nineties a new form of whaling had been started at Whangamumu in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. This was the netting of humpbacks, caught passing north between May and August, and south between October and December" (p. 431). 

The 1896 fishing season reveals this from the whaling logs: "Captain Milne, seeing no chance of whales, made up a cargo of anything he could catch, his total bag being 1 whale, 5 narwhals, 21 walruses, 37 bears, 74 seals, 20 reindeer and 3 wolves. The Esquimaux returned with 80 seals, 21 walrus, 12 bears and 2 narwhals, and the Nova Zembla managed to kill 2 small whales. The Alert brought back 45 tons of whale oil, 45 cwts. of bone and 20 tons of seal oil, the produce of 3 good whales and 3890 seals" (pp. 432-433).

As with whaling, many years of sealing, in addition to weather-based catastrophes, led to diminished numbers of seals. The whalers turned to walruses, or 'sea horses.'

Lubbock writes:

It may be asked why this sudden rush to kill sea-horses The answer is a curious one: the hides of the walrus were selling at 1/6 per pound to the makers of bicycles; that is to say, the best bull hides, which were much thicker than those of the females and young. Walrus tusks were fetching 2/6 per pound, and the oil about £18 per ton.' (p. 434).

One can attest to how markets defined what was worthy of hunting and even then the margins were slim. But in economic terms, whaling vessels, harpoons, and skilled seamen and hunters were all durable investments wanting of the opportunity to return year after year for what could be gotten. But the salad days of large whale catches, equally large bonuses, and short seasons were all but over. Instead, whaling had to expand its opportunities to what in the arctic could fetch money in European and American markets. When the whaling or sealing was poor anything went.

"Though 12 Norweigans and 2 Dundee ships, the Polar Star and Balaena, went to the Greenland sealing, the days of this trade were nearly finished, the two Dundee vessels failing to kill 1000 seals between them. Both ships went on to the whaling, but not a single fish was seen. Captain Davidson of the Polar Star gave up the whaling in June, and headed up the Greenland coast in search of walrus, going as far as Lat. 74° N. Besides killing 70 old walrus bulls, Davidson had a very successful musk ox hunting, his bag being 24 head. In these days, when the musk ox was becoming scarce, it is interesting to read that large herds were seen browsing on the main land, most of those killed being straggling animals found on the islands and the shore of the mainland." (p. 435)

Lubbock solidifies this point in writing:

"After bagging 10 musk ox, Robertson sailed for Davis Straits, where he killed 2 whales off Coutts Inlet, the Balaena returning with a cargo of 3 whales, 7 walrus, 3 narwhals, 11 bears and 10 musk oxen. It will be noticed from these different cargoes that the whaling captains were doing their best to make up for the difficulty in killing whales by turning every mammal, bird and fish in the Arctic to account" (pp. 437-438). 

Once, again, the expansion of markets led to a spike in the price of oil, which encouraged more expeditions to the arctic in search of whatever species could offer its blubber for it. Lubbock writes of the 1900 fishing season:

"Owing to a new market for oil being found in Italy, the price of that commodity had increased to £23 per ton. During the past ten years, 2,442,125 seals had been taken off Newfoundland by 181 steamers, but this does not represent anything like the total number of seals slaughtered, for there was tremendous wastage of seals killed and afterwards lost on the ice. Besides this, the sailing fleet of stout-hearted Newfoundland schooners accounted for a large total, reckoned at about 10,000 seals in 1900; then, again, the sealing from the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador also took toll of the seals. When, in addition to this slaughter, one remembers the numbers which had been killed at the Greenland fishing, it is surprising that the seals still seemed to be as plentiful as ever." (p. 438)