Crew of whaling schooner Era or A.T. Gifford processing baleen from bowhead whale, Hudson Bay, Canada

• Main Author: Comer, George (Creator)
• Format: Still Image
• Language: unknown
• Published: Ownership Statement: Mystic Seaport 1897
• Subjects: Whaling; Whalers (Persons); Whaleboats; Boats and boating; Ships; Arctic; Bedford; Canada; Hudson; Hudson Bay; New Bedford; The Schooner; bowhead whale
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11134/70002:5378

Members of the crew of the schooner Era or A.T. Gifford stand on snow-covered ground next to covered whaleboats, Hudson Bay, Canada, ca. 1897-1912. They are identified as engaged in processing baleen from a newly-killed bowhead whale. Infrastructure Livelihood Title supplied by cataloger.Information from original envelope identifies this as # 99.Photo would have been taken in the spring, during the season of floe whaling. During this time of year the whaling schooner was still frozen into the harbor ice, so the whaleboats were hauled out to the floe edge [the edge of the land-fast ice] and launched in search of whales. The boats were also provided with covers and used for shelter, as seen in this image.Taken by Captain George Comer (1858-1937), a sealer and whaling captain from East Haddam. He went to sea while still in his teens and was later master of vessels from both New London and New Bedford. Comer participated in voyages involved in polar expeditions and was noted for his studies of Arctic peoples and their environment.