Whaling in Chile

{{Short description|Commercial hunting of whales in Chile}} Whaling was an important economic activity in Chile from the 19th century to 1983, when the last whale was hunted in Chilean waters.<ref name=quiroz2015>{{cite journal |last1=Quiroz |first1=Daniel |date=2015 |title=Balleneros en la niebla: Una mirada para-etnográfica de la caza de ballenas en Chile|language=es|trans-title=Whalers in the fog: Para-ethnographic outlook of whaling in Chile |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0717-73562015000200015&script=sci_arttext&tlng=e |journal=Chungara |volume=47 |issue=2 |doi=10.4067/S0717-73562015005000025 |access-date=November 12, 2015|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Indigenous, Basque, New England, Norwegian and Japanese whaling traditions have been present in Chilean waters.<ref name=quirozcarreno2017/>

==Prehispanic and colonial whaling== Scavenging of whales may have been practised by the canoe-faring peoples of the fjords and channels of southern Chile during Prehispanic times.<ref name=quirozcarreno2017>{{cite journal |last1=Quiroz |first1=Daniel|last2=Carreño |first2=Gastón |date=2017 |title=Narrativas etnográficas sobre ballenas y balleneros en las costas de Chile |journal=Antípoda |issue=28 |doi=10.7440/antipoda28.2017.02 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This mean that only weakened or stranded whales where hunted.<ref name=quirozcarreno2017/> Similarly to the peoples from the fjords and channels, inhabitants of more northern parts of Chile practised scavenging from at least colonial times to well into the 20th century.<ref name=quirozcarreno2017/>

==19th century whaling== Whaling in Chilean waters began with United States whalers venturing into Chile in the 19th century.<ref name=quiroz2015/> In New England, whaling had developed rapidly in the 18th century.<ref name=quiroz2015/> The presence of New England whalers in Chilean Waters catalyzed the local whaling industry which had developed considerably by 1868, with 19 whaling ships being registered in Chile.<ref name=quiroz2015/> Chilean registered whalers made annual travels to Galápagos Islands and the Gulf of Panama in search of whales.<ref name=quiroz2015/>

==20th century whaling== In the early 20th century, whaling began to be conducted with modern techniques developed in Norway. For this purpose, whaling companies were formed in Valdivia, Chiloé and Punta Arenas.<ref name=quiroz2015/> In the 1960s, the whaling industry declined severely, and the processing factories in Bajo Molle and Quintay closed in 1965 and 1967, respectively.<ref name=quiroz2015/> The last processing factory, in Chome, closed in 1983.<ref name=quiroz2015/>

Whaling companies were: *Compañía Chileno Noruega de Pesca<ref name=quiroz2015/> *Sociedad Ballenera de Corral<ref name=quiroz2015/>

Whale hunting is richly portrayed by Francisco Coloane in his books.<ref name=quiroz2015/>

===Norwegian whaling in Magallanes=== Adolf Amandus Andresen immigrated to Chile in 1894 where he prospered as a tugboat captain. He later returned to Norway to learn about the whaling industry in Finnmark. In 1903, Andresen, with a harpoon cannon mounted on one of his tugboats, shot his first whale in Chilean waters. He later managed the Sociedad Ballenera de Magallanes (the Magellan Whaling Company) with a shore station in Bahía Aguila.<ref name="tonnessen-johnsen.r.11"> {{Cite book | last1 = Tonnessen | first1 = Johan | last2 = Johnsen | first2 = Arne | title = The history of modern whaling | publisher = University of California Press | year = 1982 | pages = 202–207 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-miE3r5DgPUC | isbn = 978-0-520-03973-5 }}</ref><ref name="sorpolen.r.1">{{cite web | title = The Norwegian who raised the Chilean flag in Antarctica | url = http://sorpolen2011.npolar.no/en/diary/south-pole/2011-10-28-the-norwegian-who-raised-the-chilean-flag-in-antarctica.html | date = 28 October 2011 | access-date = 12 January 2013 }}</ref><ref name="hart.r.1"> {{Cite book | last = Hart | first = Ian B. | title = Whaling in the Falkland Islands dependencies 1904-1931: a history of shore and bay-based whaling in the Antarctic | publisher = Pequena | year = 2006 | page = 12 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TTUYAQAAIAAJ | isbn = 9780955292408 }}</ref>

Andresen's 1907 catch of 79 right whales drew competition to the area, though the success went unmatched. In 1914, he set out from San Pedro with a factory ship, ''Sobraon'', and two catchers to hunt humpbacks along the coast from Chile, Peru, Ecuador and on to Columbia, following the migrating animals. Andresen was the first person to raise the Chilean flag on Antarctica. However, his whaling business ultimately failed as a result of economic depression and the collapsing world market for whale oil.<ref name="tonnessen-johnsen.r.11" /><ref name="sorpolen.r.1" /><ref name="hart.r.1" />

Encouraged by Andresen, another Norwegian whaler, Christen Christensen, sent the ''Vesterlide'' to San Pedro, captained by his own son, to hunt blue whales in the Bay of Corcovado. Christensen also financially backed another whaling company, Sociedad Ballenera y Pescadora, which was operated by H.C. Korsholm in Valdivia. Unfortunately, the returns were inadequate and both companies were liquidated by 1913.<ref name="tonnessen-johnsen.r.11" />

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:whaling In Chile}} Category:Whaling in Chile Category:Environmental issues in Chile