Sketch: Elevated wooden platforms over water

Date1840s

Object number00008250

NameSketch

MediumSilver gelatin photographic print on paper.

DimensionsOverall: 214 x 79 mm, 0.05 kg

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionPhotograph of a sketch depicting a shallow bay with two wooden whaling platforms in the water. The front of the sketch also shows remains of a whale carcass and is most likely a scene from around 1840 from an Australian onshore whaling facility.HistoryOn shore whaling stations where established early on in Australia’s colonial beginnings on coastal areas from New South Wales around the southern coast to Western Australia. The hunting and killing of the whale was dangerous and arduous work and the processing of the carcass with quite primitive equipment was also physically exhausting. Many whaling stations "employed timber platforms, sometimes referred to as 'stages' that were located in deeper water where the whale carcass could be manoeuvred with greater ease. To support the heavy lifting gear required for flensing the carcass two to four upright timbers known as 'shearlegs' were attached to the platforms." ("The Bay Whalers", Michael Nash. Navarine Publishing, 2005).SignificanceThis sketch is significant in its recollection of a time in Australia’s history when coastal exploration and industry were still in its early days. Whaling played a significant part in establishing and growing the colonial economy and as an export, was very profitable.