On the Trail of Ancient Whalers Again - P'town

Pilgrim monument in P'town

There is a place which has become synonymous with the 'romance' of that phase of whaling when whaling boats had sails and traversed the world principally hunting sperm whales for their oil.

That place is Cape Cod in the USA and in particular the island of Nantucket, home town of the whaleboat Essex which Herman Melville based his classic tale of Moby Dick on.

In its heyday, Nantucket island sat on a super-highway of marine commerce and barrels of sperm whale oil were sent back to Europe to light the streets and oil the machines of the industrial revolution. The advent of the railways broke the marine superhighway and the coastal town of New Bedford became better placed as a whaling centre. Nantucket then faded.

Now Nantucket is a holiday island and part of its attraction is its link to its whaling history.

So these next few blogs are going to detail a journey to Nantucket - ancient and modern.

First a quick look at nearby Provincetown one of the USA's main centres for whale watching and somewhere from which the critically endangered northern right whale can be seen.

Provincetown fishing fleet arrayed along the main pier

Unusual marine debris (actually I think it is an art installation) 

Now here is a curious thing (no not the old dude at the piano) but below you can see some artificial marine debris (fishing buoys) for sale in a tourist shop as decorations.

The false buoys of P|'town 

Buoys decorate a P'town yard

Debris art installation on P'town pier

Jo Toole of WAP's Global Ghost Gear Initiative is delighted to
find some more decorative debris!

Thar she blows - A distant blow marks the breath of a whale