Bay Harbour: March 30, 2022

EVEN THE most modest
looking of artefacts from the Te
Ūaka The Lyttelton Museum
collection can convey important
stories. This piece of baleen is
both a symbol of a significant
early industry in Aotearoa and of
shifting attitudes towards the use
of natural resources.
Baleen is made of keratin, the
same material that human skin,
hair and fingernails are made
of. Whales which use a baleen
filtering methodology to feed
include the blue, bowhead, right,
humpback, minke and grey
whales.
The baleen is attached to plates
in their upper jaw creating a
sieve-like mechanism. They
take in large quantities of water
through their open mouths then
force the water out with their
tongues, leaving krill, small fish
and even birds trapped behind
the fringe of baleen to then
be swallowed. Early whalers
referred to baleen as whalebone
– a misnomer that became
widespread.
Baleen is strong and quite
flexible and, in the era before
plastics, it was used in many
domestic items, including
umbrella frames, corset stays,
crinoline petticoats, collar
stiffeners, back scratchers, buggy
whips, baskets, chimney brooms
and to press paper.
From the 1830s, the first
significant contact between
Maori and Europeans in
Whakaraupō / Lyttelton
Harbour was with American,
French, English and Australian
whalers who plied the waters
off Banks Peninsula to hunt the
many whales which travelled the
coastline from colder to warmer
waters to feed and breed.
As at other early settlements
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
throughout Aotearoa, mana
whenua traded water, firewood,
pork and potatoes for blankets,
biscuits, firearms and alcohol
and there was intermarriage
between European whalers and
local women.
Numbers of Maori men were
engaged either at shore whaling
stations or onboard ships.
In 1836, a whaling station
was established at the head
of the harbour at Waitata /
Little Port Cooper by Captain
Hempleman of the brig “Bee”.
In spite of not having a jetty, it
was used by ships for respite or
to haul out and process their
catch; rendering down the
blubber into barrels of whale
oil and extracting the valuable
whalebone.
Wednesday March 30 2022 Bay Harbour News
NEWS 19
Treasures from the past: Whale of a resource
STRONG AND FLEXIBLE: A piece
of baleen from a small whale (date
unknown).
PHOTO: TE ŪAKA THE LYTTELTON
MUSEUM REF 1135.1
WWW.TEUAKA.ORG.NZ/ONLINE-
COLLECTION/603572
Several whalers were buried
in this exposed bay with whale
bones used to mark their graves.
Although the bay remains
accessible only by sea or on foot
today, intrepid visitors still occasionally
sight whale bones on the
beach. The heyday for whaling
around the peninsula was relatively
short lived – a period of
about 40 years. Soberingly, this
was due to the fact that whale
numbers had been so decimated
that hunting was no longer a
viable undertaking.
Up to three million whales
were slaughtered worldwide in
the 19th and early 20th centuries
to feed humankind’s insatiable
appetite for oil and other
by-products like baleen.
Whaling in New Zealand
did not completely end until
1965 when Perano station at
Tory Channel closed, having
caught more than 4000 mainly
humpback whales during its 53-
year operation.
The New Zealand Government
was a founding member of
the International Whaling
Commission in 1946. Whales
in New Zealand waters are
now protected by the Marine
Mammals Protection Act 1978.
There is a strong anti-whaling
sentiment in the population, and
some individuals lend a hand
to try to save whales when they
strand.
Want To Burn Fat Fast?
Burn Up To 2.5 x More Calories In Just 14 Minutes a Day!
Why Bowflex Works For You
Save Time - Don’t let “lack of time”
slow you down.
Lose Weight - Burns Up To 2.5x More
Calories.
Bobbi | Bowflex Max Trainer User
I lost 15kg in 10 weeks. That is ridiculous. The fat just
melts right off. I mean, it absolutely changed my life!
Plus
Get Motivated - Fun, low impact
workouts combined with a
personalised fitness program.
Get Healthy with the HIIT technology
*Call for Terms & Conditions
Free
$950.00 Gift *
CALL NOW! 0800 665 665