Travelling Australia Fact Sheet  http://www.travelling-australia.info	HOME   LIST   BACK

Shore Whaling in Twofold Bay, NSW,

Upper: Illustration of a whaleboat working from Davidson's station at Kiah Inlet. The try-works and cottage are visible beyond the boat. Lower: Try-pot used to heat blubber and convert it into oil which flowed out of the spout. Shore whaling was the practice of rowing shore-based boats out to whales passing shore bases, harpooning the whale from the boat then towing the carcasse back to shore where the body was dismembered and the blubber rendered for oil. Shore based whaling began in mainland Australia in 1828 when Thomas Paine established a whaling station in Twofold Bay on a trial basis. This short term trial was quickly followed by several permanent installations in Twofold Bay. In the 1860s Alexander Davidson began working from Kiah Inlet in Twofold Bay in an operation which was to last for three generations of Davidson and would outlast all rivals to become the longest running Australian shore based whaling station. By the time it ceased operating in 1930 (after the last whale was taken in 1929), the Davidsons had the only shore based whaling station on Australia's east coast. By then whaling had declined to an opportunistic activity; a permanent lookout was no longer kept from Boyd's tower and scratch boat crews were put together as required. Over-exploitation and reduction of the whale population were the main reasons for the end of whaling. The site of the Davidson's base at Kiah Inlet has been designated Davidson Whaling Station Historic Site. The nearby timber cottage used by the Davidsons has been restored and the area of the try-works has been excavated. Little is left apart from some of the brick work formerly supporting the furnace used for rendering blubber but good signs have been erected by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to describe the process. When the shore whaling station was in full operation boats crews would be on standby near the whale-boats and a lookout was kept from nearby Boyd's Tower. The lookout's cry when a whale was sighted would send the boats out to sea pulling towards the last sighting of the whale's blow. Approaching the whale, the bowman would ship his oar and take up the harpoon he then drove into the whale so strongly that the boat would towed by the whale as it tried to escape. Finally, the exhausted whale would surface and would be killed by a thrust of a lance. Then the floating whale carcasse was towed back to the try-works at Kiah Inlet. At the try-works the whale carcasse was dragged ashore and a capstan used to turn the carcasse while large 'blanket strips' of blubber were pulled off with a winch and dragged to the try-pots. Here the blubber was cut into more manageable smaller pieces and dropped into the pots bubbling over fires. Whale oil from the pots flowed down funnels on the edge of the try-pot into a secondary container then was ladled into storage tanks to cool. The cooled oil was ladled again into casks for transport from the site. Blubber scraps left after boiling down for oil were used to feed the fire. Boiling down was a messy procedure with a distinctive (and unpleasant) smell. Whale oil was sought after for many uses including as a lubricant and in lamps where it gave a clear, smokeless flame. Balleen from the whale's mouth was also harvested and used for a variety of purposes including corset stays.

The illustration above, based on archeological work, shows how equipment was organised around the try-pots in the Davidson's try-works at Kiah Inlet in Twofold Bay. The line running from the foreground to the right in the diagram represents a line of bricks on the ground found at the excavated site. The long-handled ladle resting on the right was used to transfer oil into storage tanks for cooling, these are the square containers along the side of the enclosure.

Information. The text above is from the Museum in Eden and displays at the Davidson site.

TOP