Different Types of Whaling Ships, and the common Whaleboat.

             Ships
Ships had three masts which each had a topmast and top gallant, and was square rigged. A ship could have as many as 37 people on board and could carry 4-5 whale boats with 2 extra. Each ship would have 6 men per whaleboat along with the cook, steward, cooper, blacksmith or carpenter.
           Brig
Brigs had two masts that were square rigged.
            Schooner
The Schooner was the Smallest ship which would have 2 masts with fore and aft rigging. Schooners would be able to go on shorter voyages, but were cheap to outfit, and so were economically profitable.
            Bark
Barks also had 3 masts, front 2 square rigged, back one was fore and aft rigged. Barks required fewer crew to handle sails as men went out in whaleboats after whales, so less crew needed and could have cheaper voyages.
          Whaleboat
Whale boats were 30 feet long, 6 feet wide approximately, and were light but strong with both ends pointed. They were equipped with long oars, up to 22 feet long, and had mast and sails with a rudder. They were made with a easy design so that they weren't hard to repair and could be crewed by six men
Each whaleboat carried 2 harpoons ready for use with 2-3 spares, and 2 wooden tubs with 900 feet of coiled hemp rope. The crew had to be sure it would uncoil nicely without any knots, otherwise the rope could get caught and could kill or main crew members. They would also have a Piggen for bailing, or wetting rope as it ran out so it didn't burn. They would also hold a Compass, lantern-keg with flint, steel, box of tinder, lantern, candles bread, tobacco, pipes, anchor buoys, had a dragging float to tire out the whale. A waif ( a long poled flag used to locate a floating carcass from a distance and to identify it for other whale ships) and a fluke spade to cut a hole in the whale tail and tow it back to the ship

The End of an Era

There is much associated with the decline and end of the Golden Age of Whaling but the main cause was the up and coming new inventions and lack of new technology for whaling. One of these main causes was the finding of petroleum in 1859 which took over the day to day uses of whale oil. This, however, was not the only cause for Americans and people all over the world were still finding new uses for the whale oil ever day. The end of the era was not a result of one issue or invention but a combination of many. Another cause was the American Civil War which took the focus away from whaling and on fighting the war itself. Within the Civil War, there was the blockade of southern ports which led to many whale-ships being unused and thus converted to help the war effort. The fear of  many disasters to whalers and their property in the Arctic was also a concern that caused many to stop whaling. The large decline in the whale stocks also led to end. Finally, the tip of the iceberg for the end of the Golden Age was the development of new whaling technology in both America and in Norway. This may seem hard to believe but with the great development in new technology allowing whales to be captured more efficiently, most whale populations were near extinction and no new whales were being found. The combination of all of these factors led to the ultimate demise of whaling in a America and thus the end of an era.

Source: "William Lloyd Garrison Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. <http://www.biography.com/people/william-lloyd-garrison-9307251>.

Conversion of Coordinates

In the logbook itself, latitude and longitude are measured with decimals (i.e. 120.34 degrees North). However, Google maps - the program which we will be using to actually plot these coordinates to form a comprehensive route that the ship took - uses coordinates measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds. To do this, one must understand the method used to convert between the two forms of coordinate notation.

For instance, the angle 28° 30'15" (the symbol ' denoting minutes and " denoting seconds) is equal to 28.504167 degrees.

To convert from 28° 30'15"", the equation used is 28+(30*1/60)+(15*1/60*1/60). Each minute is 1/60 of a degree, and each second is 1/60 of a minute, or 1/60 of 1/60 of a degree. 

In order to convert in the opposite direction (minutes and seconds to decimals), we take the decimal alone:0.504167, and multiply it by 60: 0.504167 * 60 = 30.25. We then take the decimal of this number (0.25) and multiply it by 60 as well: 0.25 * 60 = 15. As a result we are left with 28° 30'15"

41° 46' N and 140° 44' E: Hakodate Harbour, Hokkaido

On this voyage the C. W. Morgan spent ten days at Hakodate harbor in Japan where they painted and cleaned the ship. Hakodate harbor was the first harbor built on Hokkaido, and was opened to foreign trade in 1854. Hakodate harbor has a humid subtropical climate but is close to an oceanic climate, and a humid continental climate and as a result winters are cold and summers are warm. As whalers traveled to northern Japan and Siberia for whaling the Japanese found it harder to supply the boats, and return stranded sailors. Japanese officials would take stranded sailors into custody until they could be sent home. Many died from harsh condition and lack of food and water and some were even accused of being spies due to attempts to escape custody.

Source: "Hakodate, Hokkaido." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.

Freedom at the Sea

Many runaway slaves did their best to become part of a whaling ship crew.  Although the life of a whaler was hazardous, it was a far better option. The tours of duty on whaling ships were long, lasting three to four years. They were paid poorly and were barely fed. Many seamen ended with little more than a penny a day. Blacks were paid even less in comparison to other crewmembers. In time, black seamen became more prominent. They became known well-respected members of their community such as inventors, businessmen and abolitionists. They were considered knowledgeable men who were often literate and self-confident. “They had fought a creature the size of a building, so they were not likely to think of themselves as inferior to any man.” (Mckissack XXII) After acknowledging the black man’s skills and accomplishments, the rest of the crewmembers came to the realization that when given the opportunity, they could match their sea skills and strengths.

Right Whales and Migratory Patterns

The Right Whale is a type of Baleen Whale. The average length of both male and female Right Whales is 60 feet long. This whale weighs about 70 tons on average. The Baleen is shorter, coarser and less flexible than other whales. When the Right whale comes out of the water, it blows 7 to 9 times and comes 6 to 8 feet out of the water. It then goes down for 12 to 15 minutes. Right Whales are found groups gams. They start out in small groups, but towards the end of the season the groups get bigger. Right Whales are found in different places depending what time of the year it is. Between February and April, the whales are found are the Bay of San Sebastian and around the Ceros Islans. Between April and September, the whales are along the northwestern coast. Right Whales are also found in other places such as: around the coast of Oregon, Vancouver's Island, southern part of the Behring Sea, the coast of the Kamchatka and Okhotsk Sea, and are sometimes spotted along the coast of California. Right Whales don't go towards the Southern Hemisphere but some have gotten close.

Vocabulary in Log 152

While reading this log, I noticed some vocabulary terms that I was not familiar with. So, I decided to look up some of these terms and share them with you. One term I found quite confusing was “Bk steering”. I noticed E.F. Morgan used the term “Bk” in other areas of the book as well, for example, “Bk heading” or “Bk under”. I then realized that Bk wasn’t a word, but it stood for the C.W. Morgan itself. I also noticed that the word “tack” didn’t mean the little thing you put on teacher’s chairs . I decided to look it up in the Miriam Webster Dictionary and found that tacking is, “to turn a ship or boat so that the wind is coming at it from the opposite side.” In the future, I hope to post more about the C.W. Morgan and her life as a whale ship.

Life of the Sailor Aboard

Throughout the 19th and 20th century, whaling has revolutionized in many different ways. However, getting there was not easy. A common sailor's job is considered the most rigorous occupation in history. Did you know that an average whaling voyage lasted about three years? In addition to these timely voyages, finding rats, insects, and other pests around the ship became common sight amongst the crew. But this was not the worst aspect of life on a whaling ship. In fact, if a crewmember became ill, the captain of the ship was their doctor. In other words, if you became sick on a whaling ship, there is no telling what kind of medicine you may be swallowing in an attempt to cure the illness. However, at the end of the day the payment that they received was fair (just kidding). This payment or "lay" as the crew would call it ranged anywhere from 1/65th to 1/200th of a third of the total commission that the ship made. Basically, if you were the average whaler, you made about 165$ for three years of full time work. It was not ideal. However, without the thousands of hardworking crewmembers, the technology gained from whaling would not have reached anywhere near where it is today. So the next time you discuss the life of an 19th century whaler, mention his hard work and dedication.

Whaling in Arts and Literature

Hey there big wide world of bloggers, Michelle here!

Many of you may not know that whaling was highly influenced through the power of public viewing through paintings and novels. We have all heard of Moby Dick but have you heard of other novel such as Whale Nation, In the Heart of the Sea, Whales a Celebration and more? There were also many paintings made during the time of whaling and some even made today! These works created the world that people back home not aboard whaling ships came to know as the world of whaling. All that they knew about what was going on out at sea came from these stories. If your interested in learning more about specific novels or paintings check out my Instagram account made for this project: http://instagram.com/whales_for_all! :)

9º 27 S and 139º 23 W: The Marquesas

One of the stops of this whaling voyage was at the Marquesas Islands located in the Pacific Ocean. The Marquesas, comprising of 12 islands (six inhabited) are some of the most remote islands in the world. They are currently part of French Polynesia, but were first inhabited by the Polynesians. These tropical islands have an abundance of pebble beaches, cliffs, and unique wildlife. Temperatures average around 75-80ºF year round with varying rainfall. Taiohea, on the island of Nuku Hiva, is the capital of the Marquesas. These remote islands spanning over 350 km have a population around 9000 and are open to tourists.

Want more info? Check out: http://www.marquises.pf/2index.htm

Source: Marquesas. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.marquises.pf/2index.htm>.

Conflict on the Waters with Whalers

In addition to the many dangers whalers faced from mother nature, privateers posed a serious threat to whaling ships and their cargo. Due to the market value of whale products, privateers were naturally inclined to prey on whale ships, which could be devastating to the profitability of a voyage. However, not all privateering was done for private monetary interests. During times of conflict, some nations would employ private ships to attack a specific country's ships by giving them Letters of Marque. With these letters the privateers essentially had a license to plunder specific ships without fear of repercussions from their country of employment. By hiring privateers, warring nations were able to wreak havoc on each other's economies in hopes of deteriorating their ability to fight. One of the largest industries in many countries during the 19th century was whaling, which made it a prime target for privateers looking to disrupt trade.

Whaling Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWzSmbaAHHI
This is a link to a documentary that I made for our end of year project last semester. It focuses on three specific species of whales, giving the general facts about the whales and then discussing how whaling has affected each species. The majority of the time went into getting the information about each species and how whaling affected them. Then it was fairly simple to mold it into a script. I recorded myself reading the script using Garageband, and I exported the audio file to iTunes. Then I got videos and images from sources such as National Geographic, World Wildlife Foundation, and from YouTube and other websites. I cut out the parts of the videos that I could not use, and arranged the remaining clips so that they supported what I was saying. I then added the tracks of my recorded voice onto the movie and exported it to YouTube. It was not the most difficult process but it did take a lot of time, but it was definitely worth all of the work.

Friday Jan 24th 2014

We've been working on transcribing, some of us are faster than others. Transcribing pace ranges from two to four pages in 30 minutes. The greatest difficulty lies in deciphering the handwriting and spelling from the time period. Some pages have faded or smudged ink which make it difficult to read. 

Some examples include:
-"are" looks like "we"
-not all t's are crossed
-Saturday is spelled "Satturday"
-"are" instead of "our"

Some groups have been surprised about the lack of whales caught. Interactions between multiple ships vary. Some interactions have been competition over whales, some gams, and some ships stay in harbors for lengths of time.

Keep an eye out for individual entries from each of us soon.
So end this day.