Whaling at Port Hobron: Connecting Total Catches with Production

• Main Author: Pierszalowski, Sophie
• Other Authors: Hatfield Marine Science Center
• Format: Report
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: Kodiak Historical Society
• Subjects: Blue whale; Fin whale; Humpback Whale; Kodiak; Sperm whale; Alaska
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/defaults/h415pb06r

The report was produced as an accompaniment to a special exhibition at the Baranov Museum titled "Whaling the Kodiak Grounds." The log book summarized here was found in 1964 by Fred Ogden and later donated to the Museum. Most of the records of the American Pacific Whaling Company are housed at the University of Washington. One page of the log book (July 19, 1936) is included. A series of lesson plans was also created by the museum as a means to engage elementary, middle school, and high school students in the history and science of Kodiak whales. For additional information about the log book, the lessons plans and the exhibit, contact the Baranov Museum, [e-mail], http://www.baranovmuseum.org/. Ms Pierszalowski, a graduate student at Oregon State University’s Cetacean Conservation Genetics Lab, was hired by the Baranov Museum (Kodiak Historical Society) to analyze the America Pacific Whaling Company's Weekly Manufacturing Log. This log accounted for 10 years of commercial whaling out of Port Hobron, from 1926-1937 including the whaling excursions of its catcher vessels, the number and species of whales hunted each day, and the amount of whale products created at the shore processing facility. The report describes the operations of the station, the whales caught, tanks charged, whale oil produced, sperm oil produced, fertilizer produced, gill bone, and whale tail packed. Keywords: Sperm whale, Alaska, Humpback whale, Fin whale, Blue whale, Whaling