Whaler cosplay by me

Illustrated Logbook of the Whaler Gazelle, captained by Daniel F. Worth, June 19, 1856

Ship HARMONY of Hull, by unknown, 1880

On the left you can see a Whaler on Camels being towed in by a Tug

In the early years of American whaling, voyages were restricted to the Atlantic Ocean. A common route was to cruise south in spring to the West Indies, then to the Azores, stopping at ports in these Portuguese islands, where whalers picked up fresh food,water, and additional crew. From there, the ships cruised past the Cape Verde Islands and the west coast of Africa, before recrossing the South Atlantic to the Brazil Banks or Falkland Islands. Returning to New England in July, the whalers refitted, then sailed for the Davis Straits between Greenland and North America for the summer. These relatively brief voyages were known as “plum-pudding whaling.”

Dutch whaler near Spitsbergen, circa 1690(detail), by Arnold de Lange, 2026