Whaling facts for kids
Whaling is the hunting of whales. People hunt whales to get their meat and oil. This oil is called blubber. People who hunt whales are called whalers. Whaling has been happening for a very long time, at least since 3000 BC.
Many communities living near the coast have hunted whales for food. They also used whales that got stuck on the shore.
When the Industrial Revolution started in the 17th century, whaling changed a lot. Special ships were built just for hunting whales. Whales were hunted so much that they almost became extinct.
As technology got better, more and more whales were killed. In the late 1930s, over 50,000 whales were killed each year. By the mid-20th century, there were not enough whales left. They were in danger of disappearing forever. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission stopped commercial whaling. This was a temporary ban so whales could recover.
This ban worked, and whale numbers started to grow again. Now, there is a big debate about whaling. Some countries want to start hunting whales again. Other countries and environmental groups say it is wrong. They believe whales have not fully recovered yet.
The History of Whale Hunting
Whales have a thick fat layer under their skin. This is called blubber. For many years, the Eskimos in Alaska depended on whales to live. They used every part of the whale. The bones, the blubber, and the skin were all used. One whale could feed an Eskimo community for a long time. Whales were very important to them.
Whale blubber was not just used by Eskimos. Soon, many people wanted it. Before electricity was invented, blubber was used as oil for lamps. It was also used to oil machines. People even used it to make expensive makeup. Because of this, people hunted whales to make money.
Whalers learned the paths whales took in the ocean. They hunted them without mercy. It was a very dangerous job. Whalers would jump into a small boat. They would follow the whale closely. Once near, they would throw a harpoon into the whale. This harpoon was tied to a long rope. The harpoon had a special blade that would stay in the whale's skin.
Once harpooned, the whale would swim away very fast. It might swim day and night for several days. Eventually, the tired and hurt whale would stop. The whalers would then kill the whale with another harpoon. After the whale died, whalers would pull it onto their ship. They would skin it and boil the blubber for oil.
Later, boats became much bigger. Whalers started using harpoons with a small grenade inside. This was a very cruel way to kill whales. It hurt them a lot. When the whale had blood coming from its blowhole, it meant the whale would die soon. Sometimes, entire whale families were found. As many as possible were killed. Because of this hunting, several kinds of whales almost became extinct.
More happily, whales are now protected. Conservation laws stop people from killing too many of them. Also, chemists invented many products that replaced whale blubber. For example, kerosene took the place of whale oil in lamps. Now, many countries have agreed not to hunt whales. They signed a treaty to protect whales. However, Norway and Japan still hunt whales. Russia and the United States also do some whaling, but on a much smaller scale.
See also: Whaling - Citizendium
Images for kids
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To the left, the black-hulled whaling ships. To the right, the red-hulled whale-watching ship. Iceland, 2011.
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Eighteenth-century engraving showing Dutch whalers hunting bowhead whales in the Arctic
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One of the oldest known whaling paintings, by Bonaventura Peeters, depicting Dutch whalers at Spitzbergen c. 1645
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A modern whaling vessel in Germany
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Dominoes made from whale bones in Germany
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Whales caught per year
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Icelandic whaling vessels
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Lamakera whale hunters in a traditional boat called paledang.
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The catch of lamakerans.
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An adult and sub-adult Minke whale are dragged aboard the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling vessel
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Norwegian catches (1946–2005) in red and quotas (1994–2006) in blue of Minke Whale, from Norwegian official statistics
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Boy in Bequia in the Grenadines carrying meat of a humpback whale (2007)
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A traditional whaling crew in Alaska
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See also
In Spanish: Caza de ballenas para niños
