my crew in the Shetlands near Unst and that was in the summer - but – that’s another story. on firmer ground on whaling, involved with two I’m as I’m organisations trying to help whales. The first is Ocean Alliance, founded by Dr Roger Payne, who popularised humpback whale songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and inspired my undying love of In November Kate Bush’s music. 2008 Roger presented a performance of at Gresham College “Sea Change” with his wife Lisa Harrow. My second organisation is the International Fund for Animal Welfare which co-hosted 2008 Sydney Holt’s challenging Gresham lecture, “Shall Future Generations Eat Fish Or Whales?” Today Dr Stonehouse is going to help us explore our history. In 1576 the Muscovy Company was awarded a monopoly to kill whales. While the 35 tonne of Bristol went to Newfoundland in 1594 to trade whale products Grace with the that the first Basque, it wasn’t until 1611 Moscovy Company’s whaling expedition set sail. Whaling today seems repugnant and uncivilised to many, but Dr Arctic Whaling website reminds us: Stonehouse’s British today regret the end of British whaling; fewer still would want to “Few see it revived or encouraged in any form. For all its products there are now reasonable alternatives, and most nations agree that whaling is no longer needed. This was not the case in the 16th to mid-19th centuries, or even in the early 20th century when British whaling finally ceased. To judge whalers of those times by standards of today makes no sense at all. If we seek to judge, we must in fairness know more of the circumstances in which they worked.” Whaling, particularly in the arctic, was tough and dangerous, and many ships were lost. As a professor of commerce, I have to ask why did people risk so – much, what did they gain, why did they stop? To answer those questions and
my crew in the Shetlands near Unst – and that was in the summer - but that’s another story. I’m on firmer ground on whaling, as I’m involved with two organisations trying to help whales. The first is Ocean Alliance, founded by Dr Roger Payne, who popularised humpback whale songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and inspired my undying love of Kate Bush’s music. In November 2008 Roger presented a performance of “Sea Change” at Gresham College with his wife Lisa Harrow. My second organisation is the International Fund for Animal Welfare which co-hosted Sydney Holt’s challenging 2008 Gresham lecture, “Shall Future Generations Eat Fish Or Whales?” Today Dr Stonehouse is going to help us explore our history. In 1576 the Muscovy Company was awarded a monopoly to kill whales. While the 35 tonne Grace of Bristol went to Newfoundland in 1594 to trade whale products with the Basque, it wasn’t until 1611 that the Moscovy Company’s first whaling expedition set sail. Whaling today seems repugnant and uncivilised to many, but Dr Stonehouse’s British Arctic Whaling website reminds us: “Few today regret the end of British whaling; fewer still would want to see it revived or encouraged in any form. For all its products there are now reasonable alternatives, and most nations agree that whaling is no longer needed. This was not the case in the 16th to mid-19th centuries, or even in the early 20th century when British whaling finally ceased. To judge whalers of those times by standards of today makes no sense at all. If we seek to judge, we must in fairness know more of the circumstances in which they worked.” Whaling, particularly in the arctic, was tough and dangerous, and many ships were lost. As a professor of commerce, I have to ask – why did people risk so much, what did they gain, why did they stop? To answer those questions and
3october2011_michael_mainelli_intro.docx