New Bedford Whaling Museum

Some weeks ago my husband and I took a trip to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. It was a really rainy day, so it was perfect for a museum trip. What I did not expect was to find these on display!

A whale bone basket and knitting needles.


And various really neat swifts.

There is also a rather large model ship on display and the mounted bones of a 48 ft sperm whale that washed ashore in Nantucket in 2002. Some nice paintings depicting the very dangerous profession of whaling really makes one admire and respect the fishermen who faced, daily, such a demanding and life-threatening job. I am however, relieved that whales are protected from such industry, though the petroleum, coal, and gas industries of today pose environmental and human hazards competitive to or even greater than whaling posed in 1800s.