James Bartley - a modern Jonah or joke?

• Main Authors: Gambell, Ray, Brown, Sidney G.
• Other Authors: Pillery, G.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Museum of Natural History 1993
• Subjects: Sperm whale
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52440/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52440/1/3256.pdf

The story of James Bartley, who was reported to have survived being swallowed by a whale, is traced back through a number of sources. The event was said to have occurred when a sperm whale attacked a whaleboat off the Falkland Islands in February 1891. The whale was subsequently killed and James Bartley was found alive when the animal was cut up the next day. The literature contains some clear evidence of hoaxes being perpetrated some less certain confirmations of the incident, and some apparently reputable denials of the truth of the story. Perhaps more conclusively, the vessel said to be involved, the Star of the East, was not a whaleship.