Whaling in Western Australia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...

in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

was one of the first viable industries established in the Swan River Colony

Swan River Colony

The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...

following the arrival of British

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

settlers in 1829. The industry had numerous ups and downs until the last whaling station closed in Albany

Albany, Western Australia

Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....

in 1978.

There are two main species of whale

Whale

Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...

s (order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

Cetacea
Cetacea
The order Cetacea includes the marine mammals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Cetus is Latin and is used in biological names to mean "whale"; its original meaning, "large sea animal", was more general. It comes from Ancient Greek , meaning "whale" or "any huge fish or sea...

) which form aggregations along the Western Australian coastline: the Southern Right Whale

Right whale

Right whales are three species of large baleen whales consisting of two genera in the family Balaenidae of order Cetacea. Their bodies are very dark gray or black and rotund....

(Eubalaena australis), and the Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale

The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...

(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 as Geographe Bay

Geographe Bay

Geographe Bay is located in the South West of Western Australia around 220 km southwest of Perth.The bay was named in May 1801 by French explorer Nicolas Baudin; Baudin named the bay after his ship, Géographe. The bay is a wide curve of coastline extending from Cape Naturaliste past the towns...

(east of Cape Naturaliste

Cape Naturaliste

Cape Naturaliste is a headland in the south western region of Western Australia at the western edge of the Geographe Bay. It is the northernmost point of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge which was named after the cape...

) and Flinders Bay

Flinders Bay

Flinders Bay is a bay and locality that is immediately south of the townsite of Augusta, Western Australia, and close to the mouth of the Blackwood River and lies to the north east of Cape Leeuwin.-Bay:Flinders Bay...

(east of Cape Leeuwin

Cape Leeuwin

Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly mainland point of the Australian Continent, in the state of Western Australia.A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further to the south. The nearest settlement, north of the cape, is Augusta. South-east of Cape Leeuwin, the coast...

) for mating and breeding. Other species occasionally caught were Sperm Whales and Blue Whales, although these tended to be seen mainly along the southern coast of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

Early days

By 1837, two whaling companies were operating: the Fremantle Whaling Company out of Bather's Beach below the Round House

Round House

The Round House is the oldest building still standing in Western Australia. It is located at Arthur Head in Fremantle, and recent heritage assessments and appraisals of the precinct of the Round House incorporate Arthur Head....

gaol in Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

and the Perth Whaling Company which was based on Carnac Island

Carnac Island

Carnac Island is a 19 ha, A Class, island nature reserve about 10 km south-west of Fremantle in Western Australia.-History:In 1803, French explorer Louis de Freycinet, captain of the Casuarina, named the island Île Pelée . It was also known as Île Lévilian and later Île Berthelot...

. The first whale was caught by the combined efforts of the two companies on 10 June 1837. An account of the incident is given by George Fletcher Moore

George Fletcher Moore

George Fletcher Moore was a prominent early settler in colonial Western Australia, and "one [of] the key figures in early Western Australia's ruling elite"...

in his book Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia
Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia
The diary of George Fletcher Moore is considered an extremely important record of early colonial life in Western Australia, because it is one of a few records that were written from the point of view of an ordinary colonist, as opposed to the official correspondence of a salaried public official...

:

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

Fremantle, Western Australia

for the sale of whale goods to the community.

In 1837, the first year of operations, whaling

Whaling

Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...

had generated export revenue of £3,000 from 100 tons of oil and 5 tons of whalebone. The next largest export commodity was wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

which earned £1,784. Meanwhile however, American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

whalers earned £30,000 from catches along the Western Australian coastline in the same year. Large numbers of Yankee Whalers, as they were known, as well as French vessels, frequently operated close inshore including inside Cockburn Sound

Cockburn Sound

Cockburn Sound is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Western Australia. It extends from the south of the mouth of the Swan River at Fremantle for about 25 km to Cape Peron near Rockingham and is located at...

, causing conflicts with Western Australian based whale chasers. There were numerous incidents of close quarter conflicts between the various companies. Governor James Stirling

James Stirling (Australian governor)

Admiral Sir James Stirling RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. His enthusiasm and persistence persuaded the British Government to establish the Swan River Colony and he became the first Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Western Australia...

was lobbied to remove the foreign vessels.

Major work on the history and archaeology of the early whaling

Whaling

industry in Western Australia

Western Australia

, as well as relations between Colonists and American pelagic whalers, and between both groups and coastal Aboriginal

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

peoples, has been undertaken by Dr Martin Gibbs of the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

.

Yankee

Yankee

The term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...

whalers were known to have been operating in the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

since 1789 and had been inside King George Sound

King George Sound

King George Sound is the name of a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Located at , it is the site of the city of Albany.The sound covers an area of and varies in depth from to ....

before the end of 1828. A stone structure known as Sealers' Oven
Sealers' Oven
Sealers' Oven is a man-made structure of mud and stone located at 34° 53' 40.6" S 118° 20' 2.3" E on Waychinicup Inlet near Albany, Western Australia...

(c. 1800) near Albany

Albany, Western Australia

is further evidence of this.

By 1840, increased competition and a decline in international whale

Whale

oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

and bone prices and increased costs led to the two companies' closures. Some of the whale

Whale

boats were used for ferry services on the Swan River. An improvement in commodity prices in 1843 saw operations recommence, and in 1844 whaling

Whaling

products comprised nearly 40% of the total value of the State’s exports. It is estimated that in 1845 there were approximately 300 American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n whaling

Whaling

ships operating off the south coast of Australia with numerous shore stations.

The town of Dunsborough

Dunsborough, Western Australia

Dunsborough is a coastal town in the South West of Western Australia, south of Perth on the shores of Geographe Bay.Dunsborough is a popular tourist destination for Western Australians; in 1999 it was voted the state's best tourist destination. During the last decade the town has grown quickly and...

in Geographe Bay

Geographe Bay

evolved from the establishment of the Castle Rock Whaling Station in 1845. During the convict 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

Western Australia

n waters. However, few foreign vessels heeded the supposed restriction. At about the same time though, petroleum oil was discovered in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

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

Fremantle, Western Australia

. A granddaughter, Ellen Heppingstone married Alf Bussell and settled in Augusta

Augusta, Western Australia

Augusta is a town on the south-west coast of Western Australia, where the Blackwood River emerges into Flinders Bay. It is the nearest town to Cape Leeuwin, on the farthest south-west corner of the Australian continent. In the 2001 census it had a population of 1,694; by 2006 the population of...

at Flinders Bay

Flinders 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

Government of Western Australia

The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...

granted a license to a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

company in 1912 to operate whaling stations at Frenchman Bay near Albany

Albany, Western Australia

and Point Cloates

Point Cloates

Point Cloates, Western Australia, is situated off North West Cape of Western Australia..Cloates island remained on marine charts and world maps until late in the 18th Century. The Guthrie world map published in 1785 maps out the voyages of Captain James Cook and shows "Cloats" Island in 97 degrees...

(then known as Norwegian Bay) off North West Cape

North West Cape

North West Cape is a large peninsula of land in the north west coast of Western Australia. Cape Range runs down the spine of the peninsula and Ningaloo Reef runs along the western edge...

. The company traded profitably for a number of years by making use of the recently invented exploding harpoon

Harpoon

A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...

and gun on steam powered chaser boats, rather than the old toggling harpoon

Toggling harpoon

The toggling harpoon is an ancient weapon and tool used in whaling to impale a whale when thrown. Unlike earlier harpoon versions which had only one point, a toggling harpoon has a two-part point...

s. Approximately 4,000 whales were caught in that period.

A poor whaling season in 1916 amid pressures brought on by World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, forced the company to close down.

In the early 1930s, the station at Point Cloates began servicing Norwegian

Norway

whaling ships again, but again, closure was brought on by the start of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. 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

Government of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

commenced whaling itself as the Australian Whaling Commission in a whaling station at Babbage Island near Carnarvon

Carnarvon, Western Australia

Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately 900 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningaloo Reef lies to the north...

. 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.

The Albany Whaling Company operated at Frenchman's Bay east of Albany

Albany, Western Australia

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

Sperm Whale

The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...

and Humpback whale

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, a female sperm whale, was taken on 20 November 1978. The final season's catch had 698 sperm whales, 15 short of its quota set by the International Whaling Commission

International Whaling Commission

The International Whaling Commission is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling , which was signed in Washington, D.C...

. It was the last whaling station in Australia.

Cheynes Beach Whaling Station is now called Whale World, a popular tourist destination. Whale watching

Whale watching

Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and other cetaceans in their natural habitat. Whales are watched most commonly for recreation but the activity can also serve scientific or educational purposes. A 2009 study, prepared for IFAW, estimated that 13 million people went whale watching...

from Albany centres on humpback whales close to shore. Sperm whale

Sperm Whale

s are rarely seen as their migratory path takes them no closer than 30 nautical miles (55.6 km) to the coast.

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