Moirs Environmental Dialogues

Eric Jay Dolin, calling from Marblehead, tells us about the history of whaling with a bit about the beginning of the whale watching industry and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Discover how Capt Smith had he caught whales would have set up a colony in Massachusetts before the pilgrims. Whaling started in Boston in 1640 with Samuel Maverick setting up a whale processing shop on Noddles Island, now East Boston, for “drift whales.” Eric Dolin explains why first Nantucket and then New Bedford became the capitals of the 19th century “oil barons.” American whaling ebbed away not due to a lack of whales to kill but due greatly to the finding of oil and the rise of new energy technologies. The similarities between business and social challenges than and today are startling. Tune in for whale struggles, greasy prosperity, killings just for corset stays, and the Wanderer’s last voyage.