By Mary Jo
A year and a half ago we took a lovely little New England cruise (here's the link to my blog about it), and our first stop was at New Bedford, Massachusetts. We were told not to miss the New Bedford Whaling Museum. (I assume that's a squid on the museum entrance!)
Being a 21st female with a conservationist bent, I was somewhat dubious about a museum dedicated to killing whales, but in fact, it was fascinating. New Bedford was the whaling capital of the world back in the 19th century, and now it's one of America's top commercial fishing ports. .
There is a half size model of the whaling ship Lagoda, and the skeletons of several whales hang overhead. (Those whales died of natural or accidental causes and were not killed by whalers.)
There is a whole large gallery devoted to the New Bedford-Azores connection. The Azores are Portuguese islands in the Atlantic, and many sailors on 19th century whaling ships came from the Azores, which led to the development of sizable populations of Portuguese Americans living in New England.
Perhaps my favorite part of the museum was the Scrimshaw Gallery. Scrimshaw is the carving of bone or ivory and seems to have developed on whaling ships in the late 18th century. On those long, long voyages, sailors had to find something to do!
Here's a sampling of pictures I took at the museum, which was well worth the visit. Plus, we took a boat tour of the harbor and had a seaside view of the vast commercial fishing industry.
The marine industry world wide is huge and fascinating, and the roots go deep into human history. Truly impressive!
This New England cruise left me wanting more! Are you familiar with the area? Would you like to visit?
Mary Jo, a born tourist!