Whalers and woggins: a new vocabulary for interpreting some early accounts of the great auk and penguins

• Published in: Archives of Natural History
• Main Authors: Olson, Storrs L., Lund, Judith N.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Edinburgh University Press 2007
• Subjects: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous); History; Anthropology; Great auk; Pinguinus impennis
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2007.34.1.69

The overlooked word “woggin”, with many variants, was widely used by Yankee whalers for both the great auk (Pinguinus impennis) and for penguins (Spheniscidae), as documented in numerous logbooks and journals and at least two published sources. Although in use from at least 1762 until the 1860s, this word appears to be entirely unknown in scholarly literature and merits wider recognition both for understanding early accounts and for its potential for revealing new information about the extinct great auk.