Shore-based whaling
A coastal industry
Nigel Prickett’s archaeological survey describes shore whaling as an industry based primarily on southern right whales, taken for oil and baleen. Sperm whales and humpbacks were also caught. The work identifies major whaling regions including Kāpiti, Tory Channel and Port Underwood, and records the physical remains of stations around New Zealand.
Origins and expansion
Prickett identifies John “Jacky” Guard as an early shore whaler in Cook Strait, possibly operating at Te Awaiti by 1827. He describes Guard’s move to Kākāpō Bay in Port Underwood by 1829 and the subsequent expansion of the Cloudy Bay fishery. These dates are reconstructed from earlier historical publications and should not be treated as precise logbook entries.
Scale and sources
Drawing on Heaphy’s 1842 account, Prickett gives a reported national production for 1841 of 1,800 tuns of oil and 70 tons of baleen. He also cites a February 1847 newspaper report on the 1846 season, showing that shore whaling continued across several regions even as its scale changed. These are period estimates with their own limitations.
Source
Nigel Prickett, The Archaeology of New Zealand Shore Whaling (2002), Introduction, historical overview and regional chapters.
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