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Humpback and fin whaling in the Gulf of Maine from 1800 to 1918
Marine Fisheries Review, Wntr, 2002 by Randall R. Reeves, Tim D. Smith, Robert L. Webb, Jooke Robbins, Phillip J. Clapham
The schooner mentioned by Reeves and Smith (2002) as having hunted humpbacks along the Maine coast in 1880 and 1881 was likely the Bloomer, noted in the Whalemen's Shipping List (1843-1914) to have been "fitted for humpback whaling on the Coast of Maine" but to have taken mainly fin whales in 1880. It was also on the coast of Maine on 12 August 1881 with 75 barrels (bbl) of whale oil on board, then at Southwest Harbor, Maine, with two humpback whales alongside (expected to make 50 bbl of oil) on 29 August 1881 (Reeves and Barto, 1985). Hegarty (1959) listed the Bloomer as a 74-ton schooner that sailed from Provincetown on 24 January 1881 and returned 25 September 1881, with no sperm oil and 120 bbl of whale oil. Considering what is known about this voyage's departure date and duration, it is possible that the 75 bbl of whale oil obtained before 12 August came from elsewhere in the North Atlantic (e.g. right whales off the southeastern United States or humpback whales in the Cape Verde Islands or West Indies during the months of January-May).
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In 1882 the Bloomer was reported at Grand Manan, New Brunswick, Can., on 1 July with 30 bbl of whale oil on board, having taken one humpback whale; it had secured 120 bbl of whale oil for the season by that date (Reeves and Barto, 1985). Hegarty (1959) listed the Bloomer's catch for 1882 as 110 bbl of whale oil and its sailing and arrival dates as 1 June and 5 October, respectively. This schedule, in contrast to that of 1881, would be quite consistent with a Gulf of Maine focus for the 1882 voyage. Two voyages were listed for the Bloomer in 1883, one from 13 March-20 August (obtaining 60 bbl of sperm oil and 100 bbl of whale oil) and the other from 17 December 1883-24August 1884 (obtaining 50 bbl of sperm oil and 15 bbl of whale oil; Hegarty, 1959). The latter voyage included a period in the West Indies, where the Bloomer was seen hunting humpback whales in April and May (Franklin (4)). Although the Bloomer continued whaling for two more years after 1884, its reported production consisted only of sperm oil (Hegarty, 1959).
Menhaden Steamer Whaling
The rorqual fishery by steamers in the Gulf of Maine was intertwined with the menhaden fishery. Indeed, menhaden oil was interchangeable with whale oil (Goode, 1887; Webb, 2001). A series of oil processing factories had been established from the 1840's to the 1860's, producing fish oil for use in tanning and curing leathers. When the availability of menhaden declined sharply in the Gulf during the late 1870's, some fishermen tamed to whaling.
The steamer Mabel Bird was converted from menhaden fishing to whaling in 1880. It hunted humpback whales off Monhegan Island, Maine, and the carcasses were towed to an oil processing plant at the head of Linekin Bay in Boothbay Harbor (Maddocks, 1926; Webb, 2001). This was probably one of the earliest, if not the earliest, steam whaler to operate in the Gulf of Maine. Within a few years, at least five oil factories in Boothbay Harbor were processing whales. One was owned by Luther Maddocks (at least during 1880--85); the others were the Maine Oil Company and Cumberland Bone Company on Spruce Point; Suffolk Oil Works on the opposite side of the head of the bay; Richardson Fish Oil Works to the south of there; and a nearby plant operated by Alonzo R. Nickerson and his brothers (Greene, 1906; Webb, 2001). Another Boothbay steamer, the Fanny Sprague (Captain Albert Murray), was heavily involved in whaling during the mid 1880's, but most of the whales taken were towed into Provincetown for processing (Webb, 2001). It cannot be assumed that the whaling steamers engaged in whaling fulltime during the whaling season. In fact, in 1885 the Fanny Sprague caught 245 bbl of mackerel one week and took a large fin whale the next week. The previous year the Sprague had taken nine whales while "intermittently" seining fish, amounting to a total of 6,000 lb of menhaden (Webb, 2001).
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