Pre-Industrial Whaling in South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

MARÍA XIMENA SENATORE; MELISA A. SALERNO; ANDRÉS ZARANKIN

Buenos Aires

Conferencia; SCAR XXXI, COMNAP XXII; 2010

SCAR

One of the aims of this presentation is to discuss how far back whale-hunting activities stretch prior to the development of industrial whaling in the South Shetland Islands. However, this aim is not to find a precise date but to present fresh information which will help become acquainted with the process involving the arrival of whalers in Antarctica in the 19th century. Our research projects are focused on little-known stories of Antarctica. We must state that the topic of the arrival of whalers appears as the result of our research started in 1995 devoted to the presence of sealers in the South Shetland Islands. The analysis of evidence- mostly archaeological- has produced information which was unknown about the activities of sealers in the Antarctic islands. On the search for those stories which are hardly ever mentioned we became aware of the omissions and information vacuums in Antarctic history. Thus, it is highly evident that the most widely spread versions of Antarctic history avoid referring to the processes involving the arrival of whalers.