What Were the Whales Used For?
by Sabrina Simone While it is not prominent today, whaling was important for New England people in the 18th century. As whalers began hunting more whales, they saw that their oils, teeth and bones could be used for a large range of resources. These included soap, various textiles, light sources, perfumes, and lubrication for machinery. The whales that were hunted the most for these resources were right whales, bowhead whales and sperm whales.
Sperm whales were highly favored for their spermaceti organ as the spermaceti oil could be used in both solid and liquid form. The oil was in liquid form in the sperm whale's head (Figure 1) and would solidify when removed because the body heat would not be present to keep it in liquid form. This solid form of the oil was waxy and could be made into candles. As a liquid form, the oil could be used in lamps and burn for a longer period of time than a candle (Figure 2). The light power from the oil was not that much more powerful than that of the candle, yet it helped to illuminate the dark rooms of New England homes.
The 1860s spelled the end for the use of spermaceti oil due to the easier access, and increased use, of petroleum. However, this did not stop the need for hunting whales. Whalers began hunting for baleen whales, or whales that did not have teeth. The baleen in these whales were a flexible material that, while dried could still bend to whatever form they were needed. Items like corsets and umbrellas were created with this material. The stays of the corsets were made by using intertwined pieces of the baleen to help hold the body in the desired shape. The busk of the corset, or the part that kept the corset straight, were sometimes made out of polished whalebone (Figure 3).
Figure 1 – A diagram of the inside of a sperm whale’s head. This is to represent where the spermaceti organ is and therefore where whalers must go to obtain the oil. Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spermaceti_organ
Figure 2 – The picture I took of spermaceti wax and flakes on display at the Mystic Seaport Museum.
Figure 3 – A picture I took of corsets made from baleen on display at the Mystic Seaport Museum.
Lay-ing Down the Law
by Courtney Stuart This week we visited the Charles W. Morgan, the last remaining wooden whaleship. This world-famous American whaling vessel was active from 1841 to 1921. Just like other whaleships of her time, the Morgan voyaged on years-long journeys to sea in pursuit of blubber-rich right, bowhead, and sperm whales. With a crew of around 30-35 men, the Morgan attempted to catch as many whales a possible, trading casks of whale oil for profit in New England seaports. With so many men on board, a sense of order and hierarchy needed to be established. What can we use today to infer the social status of men on board the Charles W. Morgan and other whaleships alike? The location in which a sailor slept.
Sleeping quarters may seem like an unusual indicator of social structure, but in fact they are a key descriptor of rank, power, and financial stability on board whaling vessels. As we went below deck on the Charles W. Morgan, we got a first hand look at how the location of a man’s pillow relates to the hours of sleep he got and the amount of money in his pocket at the end of a journey. At the stern (backside) of the vessel lies the Captain’s quarters, a spacious (for the time) area featuring an office, bedroom, and dining area. This is elaborate arrangement offered privacy and a more luxurious trip for the Captain and his family members. Although we may see the space as cramped and cluttered based on modern standards, this was a grandiose space in comparison the quarters of the lower ranking crew members. In fact, the Captain’s quarters—shared by only the captain and his wife and children if they were on board—was the same area as the space shared by all 25-30 crew members on the other side of the ship. In addition to physical space, the location of the quarters at the stern of the vessel meant that the Captain’s bed was the last to pass through waves—ensuring that he always had the most peaceful sleep, even on the stormiest of nights.
Other than the Captain and his family, the First Mate was the only other member allowed to have a room to himself at the stern of the vessel. This privilege was as a sort of compensation for the mate’s most difficult and crucial duty—having to maintain the logbook. The log, as a legal document, was just as important as the whale oil that the ship brought home to port. If it were lost, damaged, and filled incorrectly, the mate would be severely punished and would quickly lose his cushy, comfortable living quarters at the stern and be forced to move to the forecastle with rest of the men.
Between the stern and the bow (front) lies the mid-ship, an area featuring a few rooms shared by members of the crew who were not necessarily high-ranking, but also not as low on the totem pole as ordinary sailors. These men included the harpooner, boatsteerers, blacksmiths, cooks, and coopers. Though they started the journey with this comfortable living situation, they did not always end that way. Their location was not set in stone, it was dynamic and depended on how well they performed their designated duties. For instance, if the captain deemed that the harpooner was not doing a good enough job of locating and capturing whales, he may be downranked to the role of a general sailor and be sent to live in the forecastle—losing a significant amount of his pay and his hours of sleep.
What is the forecastle? It’s the forward-most portion of the vessel, featuring a small living area for all of the low-ranking, ordinary sailors. As we saw on the Morgan, the forecastle was a tight space featuring bunk beds throughout. There was minimal space and the men were expected to keep all of their belongings in their bunks or below their bedframes. Beyond the lack of personal space, the area must’ve smelled absolutely terrible—for the men only had one or two sets of clothing, scarcely (if ever) bathed, and were almost permanently covered in whale gunk. To make matters worse, the forecastle offered consistent thumping and movement as the bow of the vessel cut through swells and was constantly smacked by incoming waves. This undoubtably caused many headaches and resulted in minimal sleep for these overworked sailors.
For the men, the money at the end of a trip was more important than the hours of sleep gained during the journey. However, the location of their sleeping quarters and their final paycheck were directly related. This was known as the lay system, with a man’s “lay” correlating to his rank and corresponding pay. Moving from the stern to the bow meant less money. So, at the back of the boat, the well-rested captain also received the largest portion of the profits (behind the boat’s owners), 1/15th on average. Next came the First Mate, who usually made around 1/24th. Boat steerers made 1/100th and ordinary crew members brought home a measly 1/190th. The lowest income was that of the Cabin Boy, who was paid only 1/400th. Although a crew member may have signed a contract at the start of the journey agreeing to serve as a mate (making 1/50th of the profit), this agreement was not binding, and he could be downranked at any point throughout the trip—in the end only making the lay of his final position. This was surely incentive to do your job and do it well!
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| Figure
1. Part of the exhibit “Whaling Financed American Enterprise”. Photo credit:
Courtney Stuart; Content credit: Mystic Seaport Museum. |
Ambergris: The Treasure of the Sea
by Brandy Jones
For centuries, ambergris, a hard and waxy substance found in the oceans and along its shores, was a mystery to many. Scientists, sailors, and denizens of coastal areas were unsure as to how and where ambergris was made. It was not until the 1800’s when whaling was at its peak that ambergris mystery dissipated. Whalers would occasionally come across a whale they had killed that had a strange substance inside it (Osterloff 2017). Ambergris was found to be produced by sperm whales in their stomachs and intestines due to their diet. They primarily eat cephalopods, which includes squid and octopus, and the beaks of these animals can potentially damage a sperm whale’s internal structures (Osterloff 2017). Ambergris hardens all of the beaks into a large waxy ball to protect the whale. Scientists are unsure whether the whale expels this mass by excretion or by regurgitation, but it has been commonly named ‘whale vomit’ by many people (Osterloff 2017).
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Figure 1: Ambergris
from the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT.
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Ambergris is considered extremely rare and illegal to possess, sell, or buy in the United States. It has been used by humans for over 1,000 years for purposes such as incense, as an aphrodisiac, and for medical purposes related to the brain, the heart, and the senses (Osterloff 2017). It has also traditionally been used to help the scent of perfume last longer. We were able to see a large sample of ambergris while visiting the Mystic Seaport Museum during our Coastal Cultural Experiences class, which is pictured above. Nowadays, synthetic ambergris has been created to keep perfumes lasting longer, and only very expensive perfumes use real ambergris, as it is so rare and expensive. Over the years, people have stumbled upon these ambergris pieces and are able to sell them sanctioned organizations. In 2016 a group of friends stumbled upon a 176-pound piece of ambergris worth almost 3 million dollars and another couple in the United Kingdom found a 3.4-pound piece worth $70,000 (Hrala 2016). Who knew whale waste would be considered the “treasure of the sea” (Osterloff 2017)?
References
Hrala, Josh. (2016). Lucky Fishermen Have Stumbled Across a $3 Million Lump of Whale Vomit. Science Alert. Retrieved from https://www.sciencealert.com/fisherman-have-just-found-a-us-3-million-lump-of-whale-vomit
Osterloff, Emily. (2017). What is ambergris? Natural History Museum. Retrieved from http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-ambergris.html
Scrimshaw: A Sailor’s Past Time
by Alyssa Shanley-Lente When visiting the Special Collections at the Mystic Seaport Museum I learned about the different ways that ivory could be used. One way would be to make designs for cane tops, but the most popular way would be to use the teeth of whales to make scrimshaw. “What is scrimshaw?” one may ask. Well scrimshaw is the design into bone, ivory or baleen of marine animals done by whaling sailors who are out at sea on a whaling ship. Scrimshaw can range in great detail to very little detail and the pictures drawn mainly depict themes of scantily clad women, ships or carvings of the scenes they saw while out at sea.
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| Picture
1. A photo of a scrimshaw drawing of a young woman done on a sperm whale’s
tooth that is yellow in color from exposure to changing temperatures and
humidity. |
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| Picture
2. A photo of some scrimshaw drawings done on various forms of ivory from
marine mammals. |
Sea Shanties
by Amanda Ackermann At Mystic Seaport, we got to visit a man who explained the uses of sea shanties and demonstrated a few for us. Two of the shanties he did were from Moby Dick, where there was musical accompaniment. Typically, shanties were sung without an instrument, and were used only for giving a rhythm for work and not entertainment. It was considered bad luck to sing a shanty while not working. The shanties would be sung by a shantyman, one of the sailors who had a prominent voice and knew the lyrics of shanties. He would sing a shanty that had a phrase or rhythm that the sailors could pull the ropes or row to: “blow, boys, blow” was one such phrase in a shanty that meant the sailors would pull the line to raise the sails. Some of these shanties were songs that were borrowed from folk or minstrel music and modified or improvised for work.1
Shanties prominently arose in the early 19th century. There have been references to a sailor’s hauling chant in a book written in 1549, but most historians agree that shanties were defined by the 19th century. There was an early form of shanties in the 18th century that were more like chants or phrases rather than songs. This was referred to by Richard Henry Dana as “singing out”.2 One of the first songs to make an appearance in historical text is “Cheer’ly Man” and is referenced by Herman Melville.3 Instruments weren’t commonly used, but fiddles would sometimes be incorporated during the earlier part of the century.
Sea shanties draw a lot of inspiration from African Americans. African Americans were known for singing work songs while out in the fields, and working in rhythm to it. They typically sang in a “call and response” format, and sailors based their shanties on this format. Most shanties have “double-pull” format, and this was based off of the work songs by African Americans.4 Some of the types of shanties are:
Long-drag shanty: Usually pulling a line for a long period of time
Short-drag shanty: Pulling for a short burst of strength
Seating-up chant: Brief hauling songs
Capstan shanty: heaving an anchor
Pump shanty: pumping out water that might have leaked into the boat 1 1Wikipedia.com/Sea Shanty
2Dana, Richard Henry, Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, Harper & Brothers (1840) p. 11
3Melville, Herman, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas, John Murray (1847) p. 151.
4Schreffler, Gibb, "Ethnic Choices in the Presentation of Chanties: A Study in Repertoire", paper presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology Southern California and Hawai'i Chapter conference (February, 2011), p. 2.
Indigenous whaling
by Diana Beckenhaupt As part of the whaling exhibit, there was a case containing a waterproof parka made by Inuits.
Photo credit: Brandy Jones
This parka is made from whale intestines, dried and cleaned. Apparently this was a common material to make waterproof coverings to cover warmer clothes the far north, including in Russia and the Aleutian Islands. The parka and surrounding artifacts (Inuit tools, etc) interested me because Indigenous approaches to whaling differ from Western ones. The history of Western whaling is closely tied to industrial growth, the shift to mass-production in factories, and new inventions – ultimately, an unsustainable endeavor. Indigenous whaling on the other hand has a different purpose, subsistence, and has ties to tradition, not “progress”.
Another part of the whaling exhibit featured some anti-whaling slogans from the past twenty or thirty years, an important effort to preserve whales. Regarding that, I think it’s ultimately important to understand the context of why exactly whaling was harmful, and preserve a sociologically balanced view that prioritizes Indigenous interests rather than just blanket condemnation of all whaling. Anti-whaling activists need to realize that their perspective is limited when dealing with non-Western cultures. To conclude, I really enjoyed visiting Mystic, would like to go back, and the whaling exhibit in particular was well designed and thought-provoking.
Source: https://educators.mysticseaport.org/artifacts/intestine_raincoat/
Barrels
by Stephen Havens Barrels were extremely important to a whaling town. Whalers would need a place to put the whale oil that they collected, and barrels were the perfect thing. Barrels are a remarkable piece of engineering, made in a place called the Cooperage [Barrel4]. The curved nature of a barrel made it possible for one person to move a lot of weight by themselves, simply by rolling the barrel. This would not be possible with a crate, which would require several people to move. If a barrel tipped over, instead of shattering like a crate may do, it would just roll up onto the other side. The most incredible thing about barrels is that a complete seal is formed just by the amount of pressure put on the staves (slabs of wood that a barrel is made up of). Upwards of 4000 pounds per square inch of force can be put on the staves, depending on how many hoops are hammered around it. This allows a watertight seal, without any sort of resin or sealant between the staves. This tool [Barrel 3] is called the schnitzelbank and allows the cooper to hold a piece of wood in place with his foot so that he can use both hands to shape the wood into a stave. The windless [Barrel6] is a useful device that can help tighten the staves of the barrel together with relative ease. A wooden pole is inserted into a slot in the wooden cylinder that has roped wrapped around it. The wooden cylinder is twisted using the pole, and the rope around the staves tightens, pulling then together into place, where an iron hoop is hammered onto it. The Bung [Barrel7], shown circled in red, was how the barrels were sealed once they were filled. Barrels would be filled on their side, via a hole. Once filled to the desired level, the wooden bung was hammered into the hole to seal the barrel. To give an idea of how many barrels were being produced during the time of whaling, there were entire factories solely responsible for producing bungs.
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| Barrel 4 |
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| Barrel 3 |
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| Barrel 6 |
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| Barrel 7 |
Hanging Out on the Joseph Conrad
by Flynn DeLany During our immersive day at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut we spent our time understanding the day to day lives of mariners. One of the most exciting activities that we were able to participate in was climbing the rigging of the Joseph Conrad (Figure 1) More specifically, we climb up the shrouds of the vessel. These are pieces of standing rigging, i.e. fixed lines, meant to hold up the masts. Shrouds were used by the crew to climb up to the sails when they needed which was often during their voyages. Sailors would also climb up the masts for some much-needed alone time called sky larking. Sailors can be out at sea for months to years, as you can imagine you may not get much privacy on a crowed and compact vessel.
Sailors had a rule for when they climb which we emulated in our activity: there should always be three points of contact (Figure 2). For our sake we were strapped to a safety line and guided by the Mystic employees, however the climb was not as easy as I first thought. The lines were fairly cold, moved slightly, and the rule constantly in my mind. Now imagine climbing the rigging with no harness, above the arctic circle, on a swaying vessel. The skill of a sailor permeated into every day on the water. We were lucky enough to get a taste of this minute aspect for them but made us realize more how difficult being at sea could be.
Figure 1: The Joseph Conrad is shown above. This vessel was built by the Danish as a training vessel for their Merchant Service and for this reason was built at ¾ size of a normal vessel. This makes it a perfect ship to try climbing the shrouds for the first time.
Figure 2: Cassidy Bell (facing away) and I (facing camera) climbing the Shrouds of the Joseph Conrad while being sure to keep three points of contact.
