The Tay Whale

The city of Dundee on the Firth of Tay, on the east coast of Scotland, was a major whaling port in the 19th century. But few locals had actually seen a whale. That changed in late 1883 when a humpback whale began to frequent the coast, often swimming up and down the River Tay in search of food. The attraction to the river was the young herrings with which the firth was abound at that time. For several weeks, starting from early November, the humpback was seen in this vicinity entertaining inhabitants with its “gymnastic performances” and enticing whalers whose fleet was laid up in the harbor for the winter. After a few days, the whalers decided to catch this potential profit that had presented itself on their doorstep. A postcard of the Tay Whale. Photo: David McGreevy/Flickr For six weeks, the whalers tried in vain to conquer the beast that had earned the nickname “Monster”. Several times the whalers gave chase, but each time the humpback managed to escape. The local newspaper, the Dundee Courier , gave a blow-by-blow account of these attempts—”This monster still continues to keep several members of our whaling fleet on the alert,” wrote the newspaper on 12 December 1883. Finally, on 31 December 1883, the quarry was struck by several harpoons. The mighty beast, though injured and heavily bleeding, showed great strength and endurance by towing two six-oared rowing boats and two steamboats up and down the estuary. A great excitement ensued when news broke out of the successful harpooning and a large number of people began to line up the coast and the estuary in order to view the ensuring battle. Others piled up on whatever boat was available and began following the chase. By evening the whale had headed out to open sea, dragging along the attached flotilla—its captors firmly holding on to the lines with hopes of landing the monster.