Whalecraft
Whaling
Whalesite
The following list is in no particular order. Some links will require the use of their search function to find specific topics. Many include additional links.
New Bedford Whaling Museum/Kendall Institute
18 Johnny Cake Hill
New Bedford, MA 02740-6398
(508) 997-0046The New Bedford Whaling Museum and The Kendall Whaling Museum are now combined. The collections of the Kendall Whaling Museum have gone to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The library and archives collection at the New Bedford Whaling Museum are now the Kendall Institute of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.
List of Museums in the UK, with descriptions and contact information
https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/lib/museums.htm#ukHull City Museums
Ferens Art Gallery
Queen Victoria Square
Hull HU1 3RA
EnglandLynn Museum
Old Market Street
King's Lynn
Norfolk PE 30 1NL
England
https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/tourism/museums/charges.htm (List of museums)Montrose Museum
Panmure Place
Montrose, Angus DD10 8HE
e-mail: montrose.museum@angus.gov.ukPeterhead Maritime Heritage
South Road
Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
e-mail: general@abheritage.demon.co.ukScottish Fisheries Museum
St. Ayles, Harbourhead,Anstruther, Fife KY10 3AB
Scotland
e-mail: rgwp@st-andrews.ac.ukShetland Museum
Shetland Museum Service
Lower Hillhead, Lerwick, Shetland ZE1 0EL
England
e-mail: shetland.museum@zetnet.co.uk
https://www.shetland-museum.org.uk/museum/collections_and_history/sea/whalingStromness Museum
52 Alfred Street
Stromness, Orkney Islands KW16 3DF
Scotland
https://www.orkney.com/museums/stromness.htmWhitby Museum
Pannett Park
Whitby, North Yorkshire TO21 1RE
England
https://www.durain.demon.co.uk/index.htmNorthern College
Aberdeen and Dundee Scotland
https://www.norcol.ac.uk/ (Search for Whaling)Peabody Essex Museum
East India Square
Salem, MA 01970
https://www.pem.orgMuseum Nan Eilean
Francis Street
Stornoway
Isle of Lewis
Western Isles HS1 2NFThe American Museum in Britain
Claverton Manor
Bath, BA2 7BD
e-mail: amibbath@aol.comArbuthnot Museum
St. Peter Street
Aberdeenshire Heritage HQ
Aden County Park
Mintlaw
Peterhead Aberdeenshire AB42 5FQ
e-mail: general@abheritage.demon.co.ukBroughty Castle Museum
Broughty Ferry
Dundee DDS-2BE
(Angus,ex-Tayside)
Scotland
01382-776121
https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/dcchtml/cofd/leisure.htmlHull Maritime Museum
Queen Victoria Square
Kingston-Upon-hull
HU1 3DX
(East Riding of yorkshire, ex- Humberside) England
https://www.hullcc.gov.uk/museumsCold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum
Main Street
P.O.Box 25
Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724
(631) 367-3418
https://www.cshwhalingmuseum.orgSag Harbor Whaling Museum
Main and Garden Streets
Sag Harbor, NY
(516) 725-0770Butler Point Whaling Museum (New Zealand)
P.O. Box 195
Mangonui, NZ
https://www.butlerpoint.co.nzMaritime National Historical Park
San Francisco maritime NHP
Building E
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 556-3002
https://www.nps.gov/safr/Mystic Seaport
P.O. Box 6000
75 Greenmanville Ave.
Mystic, CT 06355-0990
(860) 572-0711
https://www.mysticseaport.comNantucket Historical Society
2 Whaler's Lane
Nantucket, MA 02554
e-mail: nhainfo@nha.org
https://www.nha.org
Some Whaling Museums
Compiled by Klaus Barthelmess, Cologne, Germany
Bremer Landesmuseum / Focke Museum
Schwachhauser Heerstr. 240
28213 Bremen
Germany
Whaling department
phone +49 - 421 -361 - 3575
fax +49 - 421 -361 - 3905Schiffahrtsmuseum der oldenburgischen Weserhäfen
Breitestr. 9
26919 Brake
Germany
Good collection on German South sea whaling
phone +49 - 4401 - 6791Altonaer Museum
Museumstr. 23
22765 Hamburg
Germany
Good whaling collection, mostly art, little in the way of gear; a wooden model of a Kongsberg 90 mm gun transferred to the German Maritime Museum. The matching harpoon is at the Heimatmuseum Borkum.
Überseemuseum
Bahnhofsplatz 13
28195 Bremen
Germany
Has a Cordes double-barrel harpoon cannon of 1867, of the type Svend Foyn experimented with for one season; possibly the item lost from the Focke Museum collection during WW II. The smooth-bore barrel was used to fire a gun harpoon, the other, with turned grooves inside, to shoot a bomb lance.
phone +49-421-361-9746
fax +49-421-361-9291Dethlefsen Museum
Am Fleth 43
25348 Glückstadt
Germany
+49 - 4124 - 3808 or -6448Haeberlin-Friesen-Museum
25938 Wyk auf Föhr
Germany
Some gear from old and modern whaling carried out by the islandersHeimatmuseum
Roelof-Gerritsz-Meyer-Strasse
26757 Borkum
Germany
Traditional whaling gear is all fake; some authentic modern whaling gear donated by the late WILLEM BARENDSZ whaleman Hans Loose. Wooden harpoon matching the Altona Kongsberg model is used as a lamp. Authentic weathervane made of an 18th c. two-flued harpoon iron.
phone +49-4922-4860Deutsches Museum für Meereskunde und Fischerei
Katharinenberg 14 a
18438 Stralsund
Germany
i.a. a Greener gun from the Rostok whaleship NORDSTERN
phone +49 - 3831- 26 50 21
fax +49 - 3831- 29 22 17Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum
Hans-Scharoun-Platz 1
27568 Bremerhaven
Germany
One of the 8 or 10 best whaling collections in the world, world's first museum whale catcher RAU IX, floating
phone +49 - 471 - 48207-0
postmaster@dsm.deNordfriesisches Museum
Herzog-Adolf-Str. 25
25813 Husum
Germany
Small whaling department
phone +49 - 4841 - 2545Heimatmuseum Schloss Schönebeck
Im Dorfe 3-5
28757 Bremen - Vegesack
Germany
Nice whaling collection from German south sea whaling
phone +49 - 421 - 62 34 32Ishavsmuseet
6060 Hareid
Norway
Seal hunting museum, with walrus harpoons
also museum seal hunting ship AARVAK of 1912
phone +47 - 70 09 30 07Kommandør Chr. Christensens Hval-fangstmuseet
Museumsgate 39
Postboks 2025
3201 Sandefjord
Norway
Perhaps the finest whaling museum in the world, breathtaking collection of modern whalecraft
Fully operating [!] museum whale catcher SOUTHERN ACTOR [she does not go whaling, though!]
phone +47 - 33 48 46 50
fax +47 - 33 46 31 38The Museum has got a new email adress.
https://www.sandefjord.kommune.no
E-mail: museene@sandefjord.kommune.no
Gamvik Museum
Mehavn
Norway
Svend Foyn exhibitVadsø Museum
Hvistendahlsgate 31
9800 Vadsø
Norway
With department on Svend Foyn's whaling station - the world's first modern whaling stationVestfold Fylkesmuseum
Farmannveien 30
3111 Tønsberg
Norway
Svend Foyn archive and superb collection of modern whale gear, much of which Foyn's original prototypes from obsolete manufacturers, much from the local manufacturer Henriksens Mek Verksted.
phone +47- 33 31 24 18
fax +47 33 31 89 09
https://www.museumsnett.no/vestfoldfylkesmuseum
Larvik Sjøfartsmuseet
Kirkestredet 11
3280 Larvik
Norway
Nice provincial whaling collection in the former third biggest "capital" of modern antarctic whalingOslo Sjøfartsmuseet
Bygdøynesveien 37
0286 Oslo 2
Norway
National maritime museum, some interesting harpoon cannons and whaling exhibits
nsm@hiof.noPolarmuseet
Søndre Tollbudgate 11 B
Boks 900
9001 Tromsø
Norway
Primarily a sealing museum, with sealing gear, i.a. walrus harpoons & lances
phone +47 - 77 68 43 73
fax +47 - 77 61 17 20
polarmuseet@polar.museum.noSvalbardmuseum
9170 Longyearbyen, Svalbard
Norway
Very little from both whaling periods, mostly reproductions, and some archaeological artifacts
phone +47- uuuu -21384Sjóminjasafn Íslands
Hafnarfjörður
Iceland
Icelandic national maritime museum, good study collection of harpoons for all kinds of marine preySkógar
Iceland
Huge private folk museum - partly open air - of Þorður Tómasson; immense collection of harpoons for all kinds of marine prey. Most important study collection to tell whale from seal, shark, tunny harpoons, as these types were still in use until the mid 1900sSjóminjasafn Austurlands
(East Icelandic Fisheries Museum)
Eskifjörður
Iceland
Small study collection of harpoons for all kinds of marine prey, interesting early modern whaling equipmentIsafjörður
Iceland
Local whaling museum at former station site in the course of formationKommandørsgård
Juvrevej 60
6792 Rømø
Denmark
[17th century Arctic whaling captain's homestead]
phone +45 - 74 75 52 76Musée Océanographique
Avenue Saint-Martin
98000 Monaco
Monaco
Complete Peterhead bottlenose whaleboat with extensive whale gear acquired and used by the prince around 1900
phone +33 - 93 15 36 07
rela@oceano.orgMusée de la Marine
Marineland-Antibes
306, avenue Mozart
06600 Antibes
France
A very eclectic whaling collection (ca. 600 of 3000 items) of the private maritime collection of Marineland president Roland de la Poype, some first-rate art. Also some whaling gear.
phone +33-4-93.33.55.77
fax +33-4-93.33.76.91
riddell@nicematin.frMusée de la Mer
Esplanade du Rocher-de-la-Vierge
64200 Biarritz
France
Exhibit on Basque whalingMusée de la Pêche
Rue Vauban - Ville Close
B.P. 118
29181 Concarneau
France
Fisheries museum with exhibit on traditional French, Azorean, and modern Norwegian whaling, compiled and donated by a former French elephant sealing entrepreneur and basking shark fisherman. Some interesting experimental basking shark harpoons.
phone +uuu -98.97.10.20Museu das Caldeiras
Museu da Fabrica da Baleia
9970 Lajes das Flores
Flores, Açores
Portugal
Tryworks & whaling station converted into a museumMuseu da Graciosa
Barracão das Canoas
Santa Cruz
Ilha Graciosa, Açores
Portugal
Local history and whaling museum in the former whaleboat shed, in formation (status: 1990)Museu dos Baleeiros
Rua dos Baleeiros, 13
9930 Lajes do Pico
Pico, Açores
Portugal
[best Azorean whaling museum, many publications]
phone uuu - 92-67 22 76
fax uuu - 92-67 20 60Museu Municipal da Baleia
Largo da Praça
Caniçal
9200 Machico
Madeira
Portugal
Whaling museum at the former whaling station
phone: -uu - 96 14 07Museo Oceanographico
Palacio del Mar
San Sebastián
Spain
Exhibit on Basque whalingMuseu Naval Massó
Industrias Massó, SA
Bueu
Pontevedra
Spain
Private maritime museum run by the owners of the last Spanish whaling company; said to have a good whaling collection. By appointment.Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis
Postbus 9517
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands
Holds the A.B. van Deinse whaling collection with a few pieces of whaling gear, in storage
phone +31 - 71 - 568 76 11Rijper Museum 'In 't Houten Huys'
Jan Boonplein 2
1883 BL De Rijp
The Netherlands
Whaling exhibit
+31-2997-1286Fries Scheepvaartmuseum
Kleinzand 14
8601 BH Sneek
The Netherlands
Frisian whaling dept.Nederlands Scheepvaart Museum
Kattenburgplein 1
1018 KK Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Dutch national maritime museum, holds old and modern whaling gear
phone +31-20-523-2222
fax +31-20-523-2213
https://www.generali.nl/scheepvaartmuseumGem. Museum 't Behouden Huys
Postbus 60
8880 AB Terschelling
The Netherlands
Willem Barendsz memorabilia, whaling exhibitZuiderzeemuseum
Wierdijk 12-22
1601 LA Enkhuizen
The NetherlandsHolds the Thijs Mol whaling collection, i.a. a Bottemanne rocket harpoon
phone +31 -228 - 35 1111
fax +31 -228 - 35 1212
netpost@zuiderzeemuseum.nl
https://www.zuiderzeemuseum.nlRed Bay National Historic Site
Basque Whaling Station Information Centre
Box 103
Red Bay, Labrador A0K 4K0
Canada
Archaeology of the local Basque whaling base of the 1530s to 1560s, with an authentic excavated basque whaling harpoon and processing gear
a superb website with lots of 16th century whale gear is: https://www.civilisations.ca/cmc/cmceng/ca04beng.html
redbay_info@pch.gc.ca
Vancouver Maritime Museum
1905 Ogden Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1A3
Canada
Native, old & modern commercial whaling exhibitSouth Dildo Whaling & Sealing Museum
South Dildo, Newfoundland
Canada
Modern whaling from the local whaling station, closed in 1972, and Newfoundland sealingBequia Whaling & Sailing Museum
Port Elisabeth Post Office
Bequia
St. Vincent
West Indies
In phase of formation, c/o. Herman Belmar
phone +1 - 809 - 458 - 3514
fax +1 - 809 - 457 - 3134Taiji Whaling Museum
Taiji-cho
Higashimuro-gun
Wakayama-ken 649-51
Japan
Superb collection of whaling art & culture & technology, both old and modern; drydocked museum whale catcher KYO MARU # 11; museum is part of TaijiKujirahama Park, or Taiji Whales Park, with dolphinarium, whalewatching, etc.
phone +81 -739-59-2400
fax +81 -739-59-3823
https://www.town.taiji.wakayama.jp/museum/Ayukawa Whaling Museum & Whale Land
1 Kiyozaki
Ayukawa-hama
Ojika-machi
Ojika-gun
Miyagi-ken 986-25
Japan
Drydocked museum whale catcher TOSHI MARU # 16, breathtaking museum architecture
phone +81 -225-45-3149
fax +81 -225-45-3514Kayoi Whaling Museum
Kayoi
Nagato-ken 671-17
Japan
phone +81 (0)837-28-0756
or +81 (0)837-23-1145
Town Docks Museum
Queen Victoria Square
Hull, HU1 3DX
England
Good whaling collection
phone +44 - 482- 222 737Port Natal Maritime Museum
Durban
South Africa
Dept. on the whaling industry at Durban, 1908-1972Western Australian Maritime Museum
Cliff Street
Fremantle, W.A. 6160
Australia
phone + uuu - 9 - 431 - 8488
fax + uuu - 9 - 430 - 5120
Whaleworld Museum
Frenchman Bay
P.O. Box 64
Albany, WA 6330
Australia
Whaling museum at the former modern whaling station
whalewld@albanyis.com.auWhaler's Haven Museum
Victor Harbor
South Australia
Australia
Eden Killer Whale Museum
Imlay Street
Box 304
Eden, NSW 2551
Australiahttps://www.acr.net.au/~kwmuseum/
Maritime Museum of Tasmania
Box 1118 L
Hobart
Tasmania 7000
Australia
South Georgia Whaling Museum
Grytviken
South Georgia
Falkland Islands and Dependencies
Whaling museum at the former modern whaling station of GrytvikenAllan Forbes Whaling Collection
Hart Nautical Collections / Gallery
MIT Museum
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
USA
Superb collection of ca. 3000 whaling prints, by appointmentSuffolk County Whaling Museum
Box 1327
Sag Harbor
Long Island, N.Y. 11963
USA
Zaans Historisch Museum
Lagedijk 80
1544 BJ Zaandijk
The NetherlandsFormerly Zaanlandsche Oudheidkamer; the world's largest or second largest collection of Dutch whaling paintings (ranking close to the Kendall's) and of related applied arts. Some whaling gear. Collected before collecting this became fashionable.
phone +31 - 75 - 621 7626