This whaling ship is in full sail as the men in boats in the foreground are in the midst of hunting whales. The foreground of the photograph is full of small boats surrounding the whale, while the ship stands ready to process it once the whale has been killed. This is an American ship, as you can see the American flag hanging at the stern side of the vessel. Whaling was a treacherous job and this print illustrates the tremendous battle going on between the whale and whalers. Although there is no reference as to whether or not these are Eskimos in the process of killing the whale, the photograph was taken during the time period that they would have been employed by whalers to do the hunting. If you click the picture, it will show even greater detail.Picture Caption: This is an accessioned photograph, taken by Charles Shute and Son. It is called a scene from "A Whaling Voyage", showing a whale ship in the background with men in whaling boats in foreground hunting whales. This is an albumen print from a stereo card. Print is not dated, but albumen prints are know to have been used between 1860 and 1890, within the period of time in which whaling was ongoing in Alaska. Photograph courtesy of the New Bedford Museum.
