Shore whaling in early northern marlborough

Abstract

From about 1794 New Zealand had been associated with the whaling trade. Whalers had operated off the northern coast and had, from about that year, made the Bay of Islands a regular port of call where they obtained food and crews for their ships. These were sperm whalers who hunted their prey in the open sea over recognised whaling grounds in the vicinity of the New Zealand coast but did not establish bases in this country. They remained at sea until their cargo was complete before returning to their homeland. McNab, Old Whaling Days, p.1 The pursuit and capture of the black or right whale was an entirely different kind of occupation. These migratory mammals visited the shores of New Zealand to calve, and arrived off the coast to the north in the beginning of May. After skirting the western coast of the North Island, they passed between Kapiti and the mainland before reaching Cloudy Bay. By June they were at the Chathams and by October they departed making their way to the east or north. Some, instead of passing through Cook Strait went further south by Preservation Inlet and Foveaux Strait. In the early part of the season they were in Cook Strait and later in Cloudy Bay. Dieffenbach, Travels in New Zealand, p.45.