Whaling in Scotland
The first evidence for whaling in Scotland is from
History
In the 19th century Arctic
Whaling was also conducted on the west coast. A station at Bun Abhainn Eadarra near Tarbert in the Outer Hebrides was founded by the Norwegian Karl Herlofsen in 1904. Later acquired by Lever Brothers it was abandoned by them in 1929. Operations continued under new owners but it finally closed in 1951. Little remains to be seen of the site except the incongruous red brick chimney.[2]
The Scottish whaling industry rapidly declined at the beginning of the 20th century, and ended completely in 1963 when Edinburgh-based Christian Salvesen, once the largest whaling company in the world, withdrew from the industry and sold its last two whaling vessels.
Although whaling in now considered to be a controversial trade, for many centuries it was a vital element of the
Pioneering role of Scottish whalers in Antarctic exploration
The first known photographs of Antarctica were taken during the Scottish whaling expedition of 1892-93. A Dundee whaling fleet, with scientific officers on board, visited the Falkland Islands, the Joinville Island group and the northern Trinity Peninsula. Captain Robertson discovered and charted Active Sound and the Firth of Tay. The fleet encountered Carl Anton Larsen of the Jason, near Joinville Island, on 24 December 1892. Four ships took part:
- Thomas Robertson, Active, with Charles W. Donald
- Alexander Fairweather, Balaena, with William Speirs Bruce and William Gordon Burn Murdoch
- Robert Davidson, Diana
- James Davidson, Polar Star
The success of the 1892-93 expedition led directly to the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902–04, and to Dundee being chosen for building the Discovery for the Discovery Expedition of 1901–04.
Scottish place names in Antarctica
Due to the work of Scottish whalers, sealers and other sailors, several place names in or near Antarctica have Scottish origins:
- Anderson Peninsula
- Coats Land, named for the brothers James and Andrew Coats of J and P Coats, Glasgow, who funded the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition
- Dundee Island and Firth of Tay
- Inverleith Harbour
- McDonald Ice Rumples
- McMurdo Sound, McMurdo Ice Shelf & McMurdo Station
- McIntyre Island
- MacKenzie Bay
- Mount Campbell
- Mount Crawford (Antarctica)
- Mount Dalrymple
- Mount Douglas (Antarctica)
- Mount Hamilton (Antarctica)
- Mount Inverleith
- Mount Kirkpatrick/Kilpatrick & Kirkpatrick Basalt (named for a Glasgow businessman)
- Mount Strathcona
- Robertson Island
- Robertson Islands
- Scotia Arc & Scotia Sea
- Trinity Housein Leith, Scotland's centre for maritime administration
- Weddell Sea, named in 1822 after the Scottish sealer James Weddell
- Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount of Falkland, who in turn took his title from Falkland Palace in Fife. See also West Falkland & East Falkland, the two main islands.
- Douglas
- Brenton Loch (inlet) and Loch Head Pond are rare examples of the Scottish word 'loch' being applied to bodies of water outwith Scotland
- South Orkneys
- Ailsa Craig
- Cape Geddes
- Laurie Island (named by Scottish National Antarctic Expedition)
- Nigg Rock [1]
- Orcadas Base
- Omond House [2]
- Scotia Bay
- South Shetlands
See also
- Fishing in Scotland
- Murray's Bay, Scottish placenames in South Africa).
- Olna Firth, Shetland
- Tay Whale
- The Famous Tay Whale, a poem by William Topaz McGonagall
- John Sen Inches Thomson
- Whaling in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ "The Whaling Industry". Angus Heritage. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
- ^ "Harris, Bunaveneadar, Whaling Station". RCAHMS. Retrieved 4 January 2015.