Whaling vessels

The art of scrimshaw was actually started by European whalers, but quickly spread across the Atlantic and is now generally considered an American art. It came about because the men on the whaling vessels had a lot of time and little to occupy themselves with in between sightings and catches of whales, so they used the by-products of the whaling industry to pass the time. Marine ivory, bone and baleen could all be carved or etched and in some way decorated to make useful and attractive objects. 

The critical value of the Froude number shows why decent surface speeds are off-limits for the sizes of most of Nature s vessels and why even air breathers mostly swim submerged. An occasional animal porpoises up and down through the interface or planes on the surface, but only a large whale could consider migrating as a surface ship. 

Some items that were made were functional and used on board ship, but many were made as gifts for wives or girlfiiends back home. Typical items were pastry cutters, bobbins, and sevnng or knitting implements, made fi m whale teeth. Sometimes teeth were left whole, pictures were etched on the surfaces, and they were mounted as purely decorative objects (Fig. 3.10). The most common illustrations etched onto the teeth were sailing vessels, patriotic scenes or elegantly clad ladies copied from fashion magazines. 

In 2002 it won a temporary restraining order against the National Science Foundation that stopped U.S. research vessels from conducting seismic surveys in the Gulf of California, Mexico these surveys were linked to whale deaths. A settlement followed, which requires all U.S. seismic vessels to submit to the Endangered... 

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