![\"whaling2\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/preserving\/files\/2015\/03\/whaling2.jpg\")
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In the 1590’s, the Dutch explored\u00a0the Arctic regions looking for a\u00a0sea passage to Asia. While their aspirations for a lucrative northeast passageway\u00a0was never realized, the voyages did provide an unanticipated benefit for the growing\u00a0Dutch economy. In addition to\u00a0noting the proliferation of\u00a0polar bears\u00a0and\u00a0walruses, these arctic expeditions\u00a0sighted\u00a0large quantities\u00a0of whales off the coast of Spitsbergen and across the Greenland Sea. These revelations\u00a0encouraged the Dutch to commit significant resources towards shipbuilding and naval supremacy, with the expectation of countless\u00a0riches from the trade of\u00a0whaling products. The British and French were unable to keep up with the Dutch, both in finance and capital\u00a0to support this venture.\u00a0<\/span>The Dutch became the preeminent whalers of the 17th and early 18th century, killing some 30,000 whales, making huge profits, and establishing the Netherlands as the center of the whaling industry. Having\u00a0a near monopoly on whaling, the\u00a0Dutch kept the prices artificially high across Europe.<\/p>\n Much of our understanding of whaling\u00a0at this time comes from the publications of\u00a0Cornelis Gijsbertsz Zorgdrager, a\u00a0Dutch navigator born around 1660, who commanded a number of\u00a0whaling ships during this period of Dutch growth and dominance.\u00a0<\/span>Recognizing the proliferation of stories, fables, and legends regarding whaling, Zorgdrager decided to publish his own research and observations\u00a0from his\u00a0whaling days.\u00a0His works showed how ships ought to\u00a0be equipped, where whales and other sea inhabitants were to be\u00a0found, and how to\u00a0hunt and render the animals amidst ice floes and treacherous seas. He provides\u00a0considerable detail about ships, on\u00a0board provisions, equipment, hunting apparatus, and catches across the\u00a0northern fishing areas and small coastal encampments. In addition to the general map of the northern regions, there are among others, maps of Iceland and of Greenland, as well as plates of various wildlife.<\/p>\n “My profession for several years having been fishing in Greenland, I felt obliged to acquire the knowledge and training they require…<\/span> I noted very carefully in my annual register all the remarkable events that had come to me in order to have an accurate idea of \u200b\u200bmy operations.”\u00a0-Zorgdrager<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Dutch supremacy in whaling over other European competitors like France, Germany and Britain eventually diminished in the second half of the 18th century as\u00a0those countries became more powerful as a result of their\u00a0colonial exploits.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The\u00a0perilous hunt on the open waters<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Narwhal skeletons often thought to be related to unicorns<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/a>
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