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Te Papa, NZ's innovative National Museum and the home of the National Art Collection. Open daily 10AM - 6PM

$Recently we explored Tasmania’s breathtaking east coast and in recognition of World Whale Day, we thought it was timely to reflect on the horrific exploitation these magnificent, majestic mammals of the ocean experienced during commercial whaling, causing near extinction of several species. Early settlers discovered Tasmania’s abundance of Whales and by 1841, had established 35 whaling stations, employing 1,000 men. The work was gruesome & dangerous, but very lucrative and became Australia's first primary industry, where ships from Britain & Europe would bring convicts, sheep & supplies, in exchange for hunting whales. Captured whales were towed to shore, ‘flensed’ & processed. Their oil (boiled down blubber) & baleen was loaded onto ships and returned to Britain & Europe where the oil was used for lamp fuel, lubricants, candles, perfumes & soaps. Baleen was used in corsets, skirts & umbrellas. Visiting pristine ‘Wineglass Bay’ in the spectacular Freycinet National Park, we learned it was named by colonialists, as during peak whaling season, blood from the slaughtered whales would turn the entire bay red, resembling a glass of wine 💔. Pregnant whales entered secluded bays to give birth and sadly became prime targets. The Southern Right Whale was said to be the “right” whale to hunt, being one of the largest & slowest moving species at 18m & 80 tonnes. Today, a very low number occur in Tasmania, exemplifying slow re-colonising ability. Site fidelity also suggests extirpation occurred in this region, similarly in WA. Over 66,000 Humpback & Southern Right Whales were killed between 1822 and 1930 in Aust/NZ waters. Hunting of Sperm Whales continued until 1978, when the last whaling station closed at Cheynes Beach, WA. In 1979, Australia adopted an anti-whaling policy to end whaling and turned their focus to protecting & conserving Whales.  Sadly, some countries continue commercial whaling today, such as Norway, Japan & Iceland. However, whales face many more modern-day threats, such as entanglement, pollution, vessel disturbance & collision, climate change, noise interference, mining/fracking, habitat modification & overharvesting of prey.$

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