THE DEATH OF A INDUSTRY
Trouble started only 2 days into the journey.
Captain George Pollard – a young, 29-year-old captain – was heading the ship named Essex.
They had started their journey from Nantucket (USA).
This was a hunting voyage.
Not to catch fish or crabs. Something much bigger: whales.
Aug 14, 1819.
A strong storm destroyed one of the ship’s big sails.
Captain George decided to continue. They sailed all along North America and South America.
5 weeks later, they reached Cape Horn.
Upon reaching, they realized that those waters were empty. There were no whales.
Captain George and his crew of 20 men were all determined to hunt.
They decided to go to the vast Pacific Ocean.
By now, it had been over a year since they left their homes. They were thousands of kilometers away from the nearest land.
And here, they found whales.
The crew were on boats – towing hunted whales back to the ship.
A crew member on the ship noticed a giant whale in the distance.
It looked like it was over 85 feet long – bigger than an Indian train’s coach.
Almost as long as Essex itself.
It was resting on the surface of the water.
Then, it started rushing towards the ship at speed.
The whale smashed its giant head against the ship – Essex – causing a hole.
The men rushed to get the pumps to deal with the water entering the ship.
They were busy assessing the damage when one man shouted: the whale was back!
It was moving towards the ship – again. This time, even faster.
It hit the ship again – harder.
Sea water gushed into the ship.
The crew knew the ship would drown.
They lowered all the boats. Loaded food, instruments, and whatever else they could take.
20 men, 3 boats.
They watched Essex drown in the ocean – in the middle of the world’s largest ocean.
Captain George decided to move towards an island they knew of.
After 3 weeks, the men were running out of food, water, and supplies. The sun was strong.
They arrived at a barren island called Henderson Island.
Three men decided to get off here. They thought their chances of survival were higher on this island than on the boat.
Sometime later, one crew member on the boat died from hunger.
The others were so hungry, they resorted to cannibalism (eating human flesh).
Unfortunately, this continued.
More men died. To survive, the others cannibalized.
The boats drifted apart.
Survival got tougher. More men died. Hope was fading.
About 3 months after Essex sunk, one of the boats came across a ship. They were rescued – finally!
A week later, another ship found the second boat – with Captain George on it. He was rescued too.
Many years later, they found the third boat. Everybody on it had died.
The three men who decided to get off at Henderson Island survived miraculously. They survived eating bird’s eggs and shellfish.
They eventually returned home – to Nantucket.
20 men had left on Essex. Only 8 returned.
The crew were scarred for life. They had experienced things that made others shudder.
After all that happened, you would imagine Captain George would never step foot on another ship.
But he did.
He went out to sea, hunting for whales – again – just 2-3 years later.
Why Whales?
Why?
Why the desperation to hunt whales?
Humans have been hunting whales for thousands of years.
But in the 1800s, it reached new heights.
Ships had become bigger. Navigation equipment had become more advanced. Harpoons (spears with ropes attached) had gotten better.
This was a time when the industrial revolution was starting – newer machines were being invented.
There was demand for whale blubber (fat), whale bones, and other products.
Whale hunting was not done exclusively for meat.
Blubber was the main goal. Blubber would be made into whale oil.
This was burnt for lighting – similar to kerosene.
Other whale oil products were used as lubricants in machines.
Story continue....