Dundee Whaling Expedition

The Dundee Antarctic Whaling Expedition by William Gordon Burn Murdoch.

The Dundee Whaling Expedition (1892–1893) began on 6 September 1892, when a Dundee whaling company (due to dwindling arctic whaling resources) decided to send four steam-powered whaling ships, the Balaena, Active, Diana and Polar Star, to the Weddell Sea in search of Right Whales.[1]

They found no whales they could harvest as the Blue whales of the Antarctic were too powerful to be captured. The expedition managed to make a profit by collecting a large number of seal pelts. The expedition included the polar scientist William Speirs Bruce and William Gordon Burn Murdoch who were surgeon and assistant on the Balaena under Captain Alexander Fairweather.[1] On 8 January 1893, Captain Thomas Robertson of the Active discovered Dundee Island (63°30′S 055°55′W / 63.500°S 55.917°W / -63.500; -55.917).[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Voyage of the Balaena, Glasgow Digital Library, retrieved 3 December 2013
  2. ↑ "Dundee Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2013-12-03.


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