Monterey County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter XVIII Whaling At Monterey 1893
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Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of The Coast Counties Of Central California.

CHAPTER XVIII.
WHALING AT MONTEREY.

WHALING was first commenced as a regular industry in Monterey bay in the year
1854, by two joint stock companies of about twenty-one men each, mostly
Portuguese; the captain of one company was a Portuguese, and of the other was J.
P. Davenport, from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. These companies were successful, and
kept up the business till 1865, when the two consolidated into one company, and
Captain T. G. Lambert, from Martha's Vineyard, took charge of the consolidated
business. Within the first four months the company landed $31,000 worth of oil
and bone on the beach at Monterey.

  The season for catching the California gray whales usually began about
December 1 and ended April 1; that is, during a portion of that period, to-wit,
from the 1st of December to the 1st of February, these whales were passing south
to their breeding grounds, in the warm, protected bays in the Gulf of
California, and off the coast of Mexico; and from about February 1 till April 1
they were passing north to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic ocean;
that is, they were hunted from the bay of Monterey, both whilst passing south
and on their return north again.

  It is asserted by old whalers, who claim to know, that the California gray
whales take no food whatever, from the time they leave the Arctic ocean till
they return thither; during which time, their blubber, or the oil from their
blubber, is exhausted to the full amount of fifty per cent. This statement
applies only to the California gray. The humpback whale partakes of food at all
seasons; and if he cannot find it on the California coast, he goes to the
Alaskan coast, or to wherever food can be found.

  The California grays, whilst on their way south (i. e., from December 1 to
February 1), will average about fifty barrels of oil each; whilst on their
northern passage they will average only about twenty-five barrels. From the fact
that they were persistently hunted for many years at their breeding grounds,
this species has become nearly extinct.

  During the time the females are nursing their young in Southern waters, they
will defend them with all the ferocity of wild beasts.

  An old whaling captain once had four boats smashed in Magdalena bay, Lower
California, by a female whale, which was defending her young; and each time he
and his men had to swim to other boats; but with the fifth boat he finally got her.

  The hump-back whales are to be found in all the waters of the Pacific coast,
from Cape Horn to Behring straits, and their numbers are apparently
inexhaustible. The yield of oil of these whales varies greatly, or from, say,
five to one hundred and forty barrels each. This fact, and the fact that they
range over wide fields, or wherever they can find food, render the business of
hunting them uncertain.

  The right whale, which produces the bone of commerce, is found on the coast of
California, and some of this species have been captured on the coast, which
produced 150 barrels of oil, and 1,500 pounds of bone each,

  Whales caught within twenty-five miles of Monterey were usually towed to that
port, where they were tried out on shore.

  Whaling as a regular business at Monterey which from many causes gradually
became unprofitable, was finally abandoned about the year 1888. Much of the
foregoing information is derived from the veteran Captain T. G. Lambert, who has
given over the fascinating pursuit of hunting the great monsters of the deep,
and become a permanent and prosperous resident of Monterey.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Memorial and Biographical History of the Coast Counties of Central California.

Illustrated.

Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the
Earliest Period of its Discovery to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of
its Auspicious Future; Illustrations and Full-Page Portraits of some of its
Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers, and Prominent
Citizens of To-day.



HENRY D. BARROWS,
Editor of the Historical Department.

LUTHER A. INGERSOLL,
Editor of the Biographical Department.

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants."—Macaulay.


CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1893.


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