Next Stop Antarctica

Don Grady. Sealers & Whalers in New Zealand Waters. Auckland: Reed Methuen, 1986.

After Ross Dependency came under New Zealand administration in 1923, the country could earn a royalty from any whale oil obtained. Whaling agreements with the government meant that ships had to call at New Zealand ports.

Don Grady. Sealers & Whalers in New Zealand Waters. Auckland: Reed Methuen, 1986.
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Alan Villiers. Whaling in the Frozen South, Being the Story of the 1923–24 Norwegian Whaling Expedition to the Antarctic. London: Hurst & Blackett, [1925].

Norwegian Captain Carl Anton Larsen (1860–1924) was largely responsible for beginning the wholesale exploitation of whales of the Ross Sea in 1923. Although Captain Larsen died early in the venture, there were regular visits by Norwegian whaling vessels to Port Chalmers for the next few years.

Alan Villiers. Whaling in the Frozen South, Being the Story of the 1923–24 Norwegian Whaling Expedition to the Antarctic. London: Hurst & Blackett, [1925].
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Henry Ferguson. Harpoon. London: J. Cape, [1932].

Other foreign and local entries into the market met with limited success as the number of whales in the Ross Sea went into sharp decline. One such venture was registered by John Edmond and Co., Dunedin.

Australian Henry Ferguson's book Harpoon is a personal account of that expedition. He opens his narrative on board the train to Port Chalmers on a crisp October morning in 1929.

Henry Ferguson. Harpoon. London: J. Cape, [1932].
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