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Wild Whalers Ahoy! - Page 2

© Philippa Jane Ballantine

The earliest hunters to come to the shores of New Zealand were seeking seals, but by 1829 this trade had tailed off. In their wake came the whalers- tough men, from nations all over the world. The first form of whaling was the bay whaling where the ship was moored in the harbour- this was the easiest and simplest, and preferred by the French, Portuguese, and Dutch ships, but only the English, Australians and Americans set up whaling stations. They bought land of local Maori chiefs, and set to work. This close relationship with the locals, meant that the whalers were often in a unique position, and many acted as translators with those that came after. Of these, Dicky Barrett from Wellington was the best known.

Virtually all of New Zealand offered good hunting grounds, both North and South Island, and especially the Cook Strait area where the whales had to pass on their migrations. Sperm whale was hunted at first, but as the demand for whalebone and oil increased, the Right Whale seemed more lucrative. They hunted all sorts of whales. The first to be hunted to the brink of extinction was the right whale, named so because it was the ‘right’ one to catch. By the 1850s there were very few left. But there were still sperm whales to be hunted, as well as Minke and Humpback.

In the northeast, on the Mahia peninsula a permanent whaling was established, and became one of a string from Waikokupu to Portland Island. And it was a valuable venture- a record catch of twenty six sperm whales in one year could be worth as much as $600 each.

Boats would set out from the station, and usually catch the whales only miles from the coast, before dragging them back to there to be stripped of their blubber. This was then melted down, skimmed and stored in barrels for transportation to the 'civilised' world.

Reverend Edward Wakefield described the whalers at the Cloudy Bay station in Marlborough as a motley collection of seamen, deserters and escaped convicts. The station itself stunk from the rendering process, and the bones of scores of whale carcasses.

But by the 1880s reality was beginning to set in; the whales were not in plentiful supply, and hunting was becoming harder and harder. No one was regulating how many were kill, the slaughter was indiscriminate, and by killing whales in their breeding grounds the whalers were literally sealing their own fate. Eventually people moved on to other, easier and less dangerous occupations.

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