Whaling In Australia

Information about Whaling In Australia

Whaling in Australia took place from colonisation in 1788. In 1979 Australia terminated whaling and committed to whale protection. The main varieties hunted were Humpback, Blue, Right and Sperm Whales.^[1]

History

Whaling was introduced by European colonisation after 1788. There is no record of Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people hunting whales.^[2]

Whale oil and baleen (whalebone) were profitable commodities, and whaling was one Australia's first major export industries - coastal whaling stations helped build Australia.^[2] Sealing and whaling contributed more to the colonial economy than land produce until the 1830s.^[3]

From colonisation the whaling industry enjoyed 70 years of commercial success, until petroleum superseded whale oil. Also, the 1850s gold rush saw workers abandon whaling for the gold fields.

In the early twentieth century agriculture and mining suppressed a return to whaling. However, Norwegian whalers took an interest in the Australian waters and the Western Australian government encouraged whaling to develop new locations along its coast.^[1]

In 1978 the Federal Government appointed Sir Sydney Frost, a former chief justice of Papua New Guinea, to conduct an inquiry into whales and whaling. This followed a direct pro-whale action campaign in Albany and a national community campaign by groups including Project Jonah, Friends of the Earth and the Whale and Dolphin Coalition.

Greenpeace co-founder Canadian Bob Hunter came to Albany in August 1977 to take charge of a direct action campaign against the three whale chaser ships operating from Albany, Western Australia. Zodiacs were taken 30 miles out to sea to place people between harpoons and the whales. This was the first Greenpeace campaign in Australia. Key members of the Whale and Dolphin Coalition, including Jonny Lewis and Richard Jones, then formed Greenpeace Australia.

On Monday, July 31, 1978, the first day of the Frost inquiry public hearings, the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company announced its intention to close operations at the end of that whaling season. Cheynes Beach had operated from Frenchman Bay near Albany, Western Australia, since 1952. The Last Whale, a sperm whale, was harpooned on November 20, 1978.

Sir Sydney's report Whales and Whaling: Report of the Independent Inquiry recommended banning whaling in Australia, and in April 1979 the Fraser government endorsed it. Australia is now a global advocate for the whale.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the whale population, especially humpbacks, has been steadily increasing since the end of whaling in Australian waters. The current state of the sperm whale population in the Southern Ocean off Western Australia is unknown. Whale watching is an increasingly popular activity.

References

1. ^ Suter, Keith D. (October 1982). "Australia's new whaling policy : Formulation and implementation". Marine Policy 6 (4): 287-302.
2. ^ From Whaling to Sanctuary (pdf). Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Heritage. Retrieved on 2006-06-06.
3. ^ Macintyre, Stuart. A Concise History of Australia, p. 36. ISBN 0-521-60101-0.

Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. The term includes both the Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginal People, who together make up about 2.5% of Australia's population.
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Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are Melanesians culturally akin to the coastal peoples of Papua New Guinea.
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Whale oil is the oil obtained from the blubber of various species of whales, particularly the three species of Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica, E. glacialis, and E. australis) and the Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysicetus) prior to the modern era, as well as several other species of
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Baleen makes up baleen plates, which are arranged in two parallel rows that look like combs of thick hair; they are attached to the upper jaws of baleen whales. It is composed of keratin, which is the same substance that makes up human hair and nails.
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Petroleum (Latin Petroleum derived from Greek πέτρα (Latin petra) - rock + έλαιον (Latin oleum) - oil) or crude oil
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Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria in Australia between approximately 1851 and the early 1860s.

During this decade, Victoria produced more than one third of the world's gold output.
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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Motto

Royal: Alt for Norge ("Everything for Norway")
1814 Eidsvoll oath: Enige og tro til Dovre faller
("United and faithful until the mountains of Dovre crumble")

Anthem
Ja, vi elsker

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Western Australia

Flag Coat of Arms
Slogan or Nickname: Wildflower State or the "Golden State"

Other Australian states and territories
Capital Perth
Government Constitutional monarchy
Governor Ken Michael
Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP)
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1975 1976 1977 - 1978 - 1979 1980 1981

Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII
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Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy, a federation, and a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement between six self-governing British colonies, which became the six States.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1974 1975 1976 - 1977 - 1978 1979 1980

Also: 1977 (album) by Ash.

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1976 1977 1978 - 1979 - 1980 1981 1982

Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins.

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John Malcolm Fraser, AC, CH (born 21 May 1930), is an Australian politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 elections following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role and, like its immediate
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Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and other cetaceans in their natural habitat. Whales are watched most commonly for recreation (cf. bird watching) but the activity can also be for scientific or educational reasons.
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Whaling in Western Australia was one of the first viable industries established in the Swan River Colony following the arrival of British settlers in 1829. The industry had numerous ups and downs until the last whaling station closed in Albany in 1978.
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The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW)^[1] on 2 December 1946 to promote and maintain whale fishery stocks.
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History of whaling is very extensive, stretching back for millennia. This article discusses the history of whaling up to the moratorium (1982).
Prehistoric to medieval times
Humans have engaged in whaling since prehistoric times.
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Aboriginal whaling is the hunting of whales carried out by aboriginal groups who have a tradition of whaling.

Under the terms of the 1986 moratorium on whaling, the International Whaling Commission allows whaling carried out by aboriginal groups if it occurs on a subsistence
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Dolphin drive hunting, also called dolphin drive fishing, is a method of hunting dolphins and occasionally other small cetaceans by driving them together with boats and then usually into a bay or onto a beach.
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