236 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



decline set in, gradual at first, but more rapid 

 later. 



The whaling boom of 1846-7 coincided with the 

 opening of new grounds for Bowhead Whales in 

 the Seas of Okhotsk and Kamschatka, the Arctic 

 fishery commencing two years later. 



Detailed statistics and records of American 

 whaling voyages are available. 1 Many ships saw the 

 whole of the fishery through practically from 

 beginning to end. Quite a number of the New 

 Bedford whalers were in commission for over fifty 

 years, the four heading the list being the ship Maria 

 (ninety years), the ship Rousseau (eighty-seven 

 years), the barque Triton (seventy-nine years), and 

 the ship Ocean (seventy-five years). The Maria, 

 which was built by Ichabod Thomas on the North 

 River in Pembroke, Mass., in 1782, sailed the seas 

 of the globe until 1872, when she was broken up at 

 Vancouver Island. 



The record of the New Bedford whaler Lagoda 

 is of great interest since she participated in the 

 fishery in the boom years, and was only sold by her 

 owners when the decline had unmistakably set in. 

 The Lagoda made twelve voyages between October, 

 1841, and July, 1886, of which ten resulted in a 

 profit, and two (the tenth and twelfth) in a loss ; the 

 net gain to the owners being $652,000. The 

 dividends on the individual yoyages were in 

 percentages: 29-6; 120-5; 669; I 77 >2 5 100596-9; 



1 Old Dartmouth Historical Sketches, Nos. 2, 14, 43, 44, 45, 

 and 50, New Bedford, Mass., U.S.A. 



