Re-examining Britain’s role in whaling

Beyond blue: whaling and small cetaceans

Blue whales were hunted to the brink of extinction in the twentieth century but were also one of the first species protected on a global scale.

The whale, dolphin and porpoise or Cetacea collection at the Museum holds many specimens from whaling. Many are from the Natural History Museum’s attempts to learn more about these animals and monitor the industry between 1910 and 1960, which played an important role in establishing international whaling regulations.

Britain was a leading whaling nation until 1963, with much of whaling in the Southern Hemisphere closely connected to the British Empire. Whaling expanded and reinforced British presence in distant places, and it generated income from both British companies and other nations whaling in territories under its control, such as South Georgia in the South Atlantic.

Working with Principal Curator Richard Sabin, a marine mammal expert, I have been interpreting human-made records, as well as the specimens, to uncover untold stories about human interactions with these magnificent mammals and how this impacted the whales and our ecosystems.

As part of my research, I’ve been looking at smaller cetaceans, including beaked whales, orcas, dolphins and porpoises. Unlike the species of great whales, these cetaceans were not commercially valued. We only have a few entire skeletons of commercially targeted species from twentieth-century industrial whaling in the South Atlantic. However, smaller specimens are useful to examine because they offer insights into scientific collecting and knowledge at different points in the past and can also provide vital information about the injuries whaling caused and the deaths of these animals. Specimens offer physical evidence of how this industry was conducted.

Collecting beaked whales

Three beaked whale specimens captured my attention, as the ends of their lives are permanently inscribed on their bones. Two are southern bottlenose whales that have been killed by whalers.

The first, a female killed off the coast of South Georgia in 1934, showed damage to the seventh thoracic vertebra and a broken rib. Richard explained that this was likely caused by harpoon impact because the break differed from what you would expect if it happened during transportation or storage, and the bones showed no evidence of disease.

This was confirmed by a 1945 report on this specimen, which says, “the centra of the vertebra were damaged by the harpoon which killed the animal.” The specimen’s scientific significance was also emphasised. It was only the second of this species in the collection.

Confronted with the end of this animal’s life was a profound moment for me. Seeing the evidence of an explosive harpoon on an animal offered quite a shocking dimension to the violence involved in whaling.

Harpooners tried to target this region because this is where the vital organs are, and it often meant a quicker end for the whale. But welfare wasn’t the primary concern here. It meant less time wasted chasing them as they tried to escape and more time catching whales.

The second southern bottlenose specimen was killed in 1947, but an article about it was only published in 2005 by the collector, Robert C. Clarke, a whale biologist.

Clarke was a whaling inspector on the Southern Harvester, a factory ship belonging to Salvesen, a Scottish whaling company. Salvesen was the largest global whaling company, and the collection holds many specimens from its operations and Clarke’s time as an inspector.

At Clarke’s request, the animal was killed by harpoon for scientific study. It turned out to be a lactating female. Standing in front of the whale, Richard and I noticed a bore-like hole in the part of the vertebra extending outwards, likely from a harpoon.

Later, while consulting a report by Clarke sent to the Museum. I found that he had requested the use of a traditional harpoon instead of the exploding to avoid damage.

This specimen is particularly impactful because the harpooner remarked that “the whale was accompanied by another, which he assumed to be the calf”, but he was surprised “by its comparatively large size.” Recent research suggests that northern bottlenose whale calves stay with their mothers for several years, potentially offering new reflections on this incident’s significance.

While harpooning a whale for scientific study was acceptable in 1947, since the late twentieth century, the majority of cetacean collections that come to the Museum are via whale and dolphin strandings.

We rely on the public to report any incidents of these stranded animals and record approximately 500 strandings of marine animals every year. Post-mortem examinations reveal information about causes of death, diseases, environmental contaminant levels, reproductive patterns, diet and baseline data on UK populations.

The final specimen is an Arnoux’s beaked whale taken off the coast of Deception Island, South Shetlands, in 1922. We had been informed by researchers Evgeny Genelt-Yanovskiy and Anna Genelt-Yanovskaya that the jaw was broken by a harpoon. Evgeny and Anna have been working in the collection as part of the SEACHANGE project, investigating how key cultural transitions, such as whaling, impacted environmental change, including using genetic material from natural history specimens.

Seeing the shattered jaw, was a confronting experience. I couldn’t help but think that this whale must have suffered, fastened to the ship via the harpoon through its jaw.

I spent a morning piecing together correspondence between Sir Sidney Harmer, Director of the Museum (1919-1927), and Arthur G. Bennet, a government naturalist and whaling inspector. Harmer had expressed his desire for a specimen. Several months later, Bennett was successful with the help of Norwegian whalers.

The whale was “shot with a full-sized harpoon used for blue whales, through the eye, that side... of the jaw.” This statement made the injury to the jawbone even more distressing.

He “gathered all the fragments possible,” key details, such as measurements and colour, and five photographs. These photographs are still stored in the Mammal collection and capture the grim reality of the end of this animal’s life on the factory ship’s flensing platform.

Harmer emphasised, “The skeleton is so important to us,” and it remains important today. While some of these specimens were collected over 100 years ago, they are still contributing to new scientific understanding of the species and biodiversity as researchers like Evgeny and Anna extract their DNA to investigate changes in marine ecosystems.

Enduring importance of natural history collections

Understanding the histories of specimens, reinforces the responsibility to preserve specimens to ensure that we can continue to learn more about the past. This evidence can help us understand potential futures of cetaceans and marine ecosystems based on human activity today and change our actions to protect these mammals.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the body responsible for managing whaling, and conserving whales. The Southern Hemisphere is where a large portion of the world’s whale populations feed and breed and since 1994 has been designated a whale sanctuary. The creation of the sanctuary was also driven by the need for long-term protection of all whale species and the concept of ecosystem restoration, aiming to support the recovery of the heavily depleted Southern Ocean ecosystem.

Since the end of commercial whaling, cetaceans have faced many growing threats, including entanglement, pollution, ship strikes and warming seas. Whaling showed us the importance of international cooperation and legislation to save these species and we need to continue to do so if we are going to live in a world that protects both people and the planet.

Tackling our environmental crises requires understanding and engaging with human culture as much as the natural world.

Our Collections and Culture research theme brings interdisciplinary perspectives to our world-leading collections and in addressing the planetary emergency. This theme acknowledges that the Museum and the science it represents have been shaped by the forces of history, including the history of empire. A wide range of people and cultures were impacted by and involved in generating the collections, past and present, and not all those stories are known or yet told.