Pre-modern whaling may have contributed significantly to the decline and extinction of some species of whales, according to new research on whale bones.

“Industrial-scale whaling in the 19th and 20th centuries nearly drove many whale species into extinction. Populations of some of the large marine mammals are just starting to recover after the kind of predation described in the novel “Moby-Dick,” while others face ongoing peril to their existence. But it turns out that whaling’s effects on where whales live go back much deeper into human history.”

The New York Times reports that “a new analysis of ancient whale bones, published Wednesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science, suggests that medieval European hunting may have played a role in some whales disappearing from northeast Atlantic waters long before Captain Ahab, Ishmael and the Pequod sought their great white whale.”

Students in my courses on HIST 420 The Renaissance, HIST 458 Mediterranean World, and HIST 640 Early Globalization may be interested in this new research that relates to maritime history, history of fishing, material culture, history of food, and social history.

The New York Times published an article on the new whale bone research.