| Summary: | More than 4,000 whales, chiefly gray and humpback, were killed by men operating from fifteen stations scattered along California's Pacific Coast from Crescent City to San Diego at various times during the last half of the nineteenth century. This estimate is derived from detailed analysis of all available information about the shore whaling stations, and includes almost 1,000 whales assumed as killed and lost at sea because of bad weather, equipment failure or other reasons. In shore whaling, the mammals were pursued in small boats, killed, towed to shore, and processed on the beach or a special platform. Many of the whalers were Portuguese from the Azores and Madeira Islands, brought to California as pelagic whaler crewman; later some blacks, Japanese and Chinese were involved in the fishery, along with New Englanders. Prior to this thesis in historical geography, no overall history or compendium of material relating to shore whaling along the California coast was available. This thesis provides a comprehensive history of California shore whaling for the period 1854 through 1900, as well as a bibliography covering the industry throughout both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Examination of the historical record of the early period of california shore whaling helps resolve erroneous and conflicting portions of that record. A principal reason for the rise and prosperity of shore whaling stations along the coast of california was their relative low cost as compared to deep sea whaling. In addition, specialized techniques and equipment were required by California shore whalers who could not easily come close to the tough gray whales in the surf and kelp beds. California shore whalers played a definite role in the decimation of the California gray whale population. By the end of the nineteenth century, the stock of migrating whales was so depleted that shore whaling along the coast of California was no longer profitable with the available techniques and equipment. California State University, Northridge. ...
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