Bayley career catch estimates
Charles Bayley and Wallaby
Captain Charles Bayley’s career belongs to the mobile whaling world linking Kāpiti and the southern ports. The vessel Wallaby appears in the collection’s accounts of Kāpiti in 1842, including its movement between whaling grounds and ports.
The documentary trail is developed in Rhys Richards’s Captain Charles Bayley: Whaling Master 1813–1875 (2014), alongside Whale Song’s records of Wallaby. Vessel movements, crew changes and catches belong to the same maritime story, but should be read from the dated entries rather than treated as one undifferentiated voyage.
Sources: Rhys Richards, Captain Charles Bayley: Whaling Master 1813–1875 (2014); existing WhaleLIBRARY Bayley and Wallaby records.
Richards estimates vessels commanded by Bayley killed 291 sperm whales and 79 right whales. These are reconstructed estimates, not individual observed counts.
Why career totals need care
A captain’s reported lifetime catch may combine voyages, seasons, species and changing accounting conventions. Bayley’s career figures should be considered alongside separately dated Wallaby and Fortitude records. A total attributed to a career must not be presented as the output of Kāpiti alone.