Davis Strait do not descend so far south as Cape Farewell, nor
are those in the Greenland Sea known to pass westward round
that cape. It seems therefore that, although their range as a species
is undoubtedly extensive longitudinally, the localities they inhabit
are greatly restricted, each being inhabited by a local race differing
from the other in some slight degree.”
The second misconception is that the Greenland whale has gradually been driven northward by the whalers. A sufficient proof of the falsity of this idea is afforded by the fact that the minute organisms constituting the food of the species are restricted to the icy seas of the far north. The Greenland whale is, in fact, essentially an ice-whale.
To revert to the history of the fishery, no sooner was the accessibility of the Spitzbergen seas made known than vessels were fitted out for whaling there, at first by the British, and soon after by the Dutch. The seas absolutely swarmed with whales, which showed little fear of vessels and could thus be captured with ease. The first whaling expedition was dispatched by the Muscovy Company, under the command of Jonas Poole; and the success of four voyages (1609-1612) soon attracted the attention of other nations. Some indication of the abundance of the whales may be gathered from the fact that in the year 1697 no less than 1959 of these monsters were killed off Spitzbergen by 188 vessels.
The fishery in Davis Strait was begun in 1719 by the Dutch, who at first killed large numbers of whales and were subsequently followed by the British. Although many whales have been seen in recent years, few are taken; and it is the opinion of many that in Greenland waters, at any rate, steam has been fatal to the industry.
The following summary of the rise and fall of the British Greenland whale-fishery is given by Mr Southwell in the article already cited:—
“For the first quarter of the 19th century scarcely a seaport of any importance on the east coast of England was unrepresented in the Arctic seas: from Scotland, Berwick, Leith, Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Montrose, Aberdeen, Peterhead, Kirkwall, Greenock and for a time Banff and Bo'ness, all took part in the whale-fishery. Gradually, one by one, they fell off, till only Peterhead, which sent out her first whaler in 1788, and Dundee (which started in 1790) were left. In 1893 Peterhead, which in 1857 sent out 34 vessels, ceased to be represented in the industry, leaving Dundee in possession of the field. Dundee sent out its largest fleet in 1885,—16 vessels; in 1903 she was represented by 5 vessels only, one of which was wrecked.”
According to Mr Southwell's account of the Arctic fishery (Zoologist, 1906), a Dundee vessel, the “Scotia,” visited the east Greenland seas in the summer of 1906, where she took four small right-whales; this visit being the first made to those seas by a British vessel since 1899.
As already mentioned, the British whalers were accustomed to sail for the Arctic Ocean early in April; and if their destination was the east Greenland sea, off the west coast of Spitzbergen, they generally arrived on the grounds about a month later. The whales make their appearance amongst the ice near the sea edge about the 15th of May, but only remain until the opening of the barrier-ice permits them to resume their northward journey; for about the middle of June they suddenly disappear from these grounds, and are last seen going north-west, when the north Greenland whale-fishing is over for the season. If unsuccessful in obtaining a cargo at the northern grounds, the whale ships were accustomed to proceed southwards as far as lat. 75°; where, if the sea were sufficiently open, they penetrated westwards until the coast of Greenland became visible. There they cruised amongst the ice until August, when the darkness of the nights put an end to the season's fishing. If the south-west fishery, in Davis Strait, were the first object of the voyage, the vessels arrived at the edge of the ice near Resolution Island in April. If unsuccessful here they proceeded direct to Disco Island, where they usually arrived early in May. The whales appear about the middle of May at South East Bay, where a great fishing was once carried on. The dangerous passage of Melville Bay was next performed; the whales entering the north water in June, and pushing on towards the sounds. If there were a “land-floe across,” i.e. if the land-ice of the west side were continuous across the entrance of Ponds Bay and Lancaster Sound, whales would be seen in considerable numbers and good cargoes might be obtained; but immediately the land-floe broke up they departed to the westward. When there was no land-floe across, the whales proceeded at once to the secluded waters of Eclipse Sound and Prince Regent Inlet for the summer months. At this season most of the vessels cruised in the sounds, but a few searched the middle ice, until the darkness of the August nights compelled them to seek anchorage in some of the harbours of the west side, to await the return of the whales south. This migration takes place on the formation of young ice in the sounds, usually in the latter part of September. Only the larger whales, most of which are males, come, however, close down along the land of the west side. These the ships sent their boats to intercept; this forming the inshore-fishing, or “rock-nosing,” which continued till the formation of young ice drove the vessels out of harbour, usually early in October.
A few vessels, American as well as British, occasionally entered Hudson Bay and prosecuted the fishing in the neighbourhood of Southampton Island, even entering Fox Channel. There were whaling-stations in Cumberland Inlet, and a few vessels usually remained throughout the winter, ready to take advantage of the opening of the ice in the following spring. Here both young and old whales make their appearance in May; and the fishing continued till the whales migrated northwards in June.
Of the other nationalities which look part in the Spitzbergen-Greenland fisheries, it may be mentioned that the Dutch had fisheries both at Jan Mayen till 1640 and at Spitzbergen. In the Spitzbergen fishery 10,019 whales were taken by them in the ten years from 1679 to 1688. About 1680, when the fishing was probably most prosperous, they had 260 vessels and 14,000 seamen employed. The fishery continued to flourish on an extensive scale till 1770, when it began to decline, and it finally came to a close before the end of the century. At the same time the Germans prosecuted the fishing to a very considerable extent; 79 vessels from Hamburg and Bremen being employed in 1721, while during the fifty years from 1670 to 1719 an average of 45 vessels sailed yearly from Hamburg alone. German vessels continued to engage in the fishery until 1873. The Spaniards, although they at first supplied the harpooners to the crews of the English and Dutch vessels, never seem to have engaged largely in the northern fishery. The Danes, although likewise early appearing on the Spitzbergen fishing-grounds, never pursued the industry on a large scale until after the commencement of the Davis Strait fishing in 1721, in which year they had 90 vessels engaged; but by 1803 the number had fallen to 35.
The continually increasing rarity of the Greenland whale has caused an enormous appreciation in the value of whalebone of recent years, as compared to the prices obtaining the first half of the last century. For about twenty years preceding the year 1840 the average price of this commodity was about £163 per ton; while in the year 1835 whalebone of the Greenland whale sold at £250 per ton, and that of the south Atlantic black whale (Balaena australis) at £145 per ton. At the present date the price is about £2500 per ton, but a few years ago it touched £2800, although soon after it fell for a short time to £1400. The reason of the fall from £2800 to £2500 (at about which figure the price has stood for some time) is believed to be owing to the use of strips of horn for many purposes where whalebone was formerly employed. Owing to its much greater length, the whalebone of the Greenland whale is, as indicated above, far more valuable than that yielded by the northern and southern Atlantic black whales, of which comparatively little generally comes into the market. The best quality of whalebone is known in the trade as “size-bone,” and consists of plates not less than 6 ft. in length.
In the twenty years preceding 1840 the average price of whale-oil from the northern fisheries was £30 per ton; the actual price in 1835 being £40 per ton. At the present day the price is only £23 per ton. It may be added that in 1835 South Sea oil sold at £43 and sperm-oil at £75 per ton.
A few words will suffice for the American fishery of the so-called bowhead, the western race of the Greenland whale, in Bering Strait. Here the whales are mostly sought for and killed in open water, and the vessels are consequently less adapted for ice-work. For the most part the vessels sail from San Francisco in March, and arrive at the ice-edge off Cape Navarin, where the fishing is begun, in May. The whales
