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Every winter between 1836 to 1879 small wooden boats left the bays of southwest Western Australia to hunt for migrating Humpback and Right whales. In the early years of European settlement these small shore whaling parties and the whale oil they produced were an important part of the colonial economy, yet over time their significance diminished until they virtually vanished from the documentary record.

Using archival research and archaeological evidence, The Shore Whalers of Western Australia examines the history and operation of this almost forgotten industry on the remote maritime frontier of the British Empire and the role of the whalers in the history of early contact between Europeans and Aboriginal people.

Professor Martin Gibbs is Convenor, School of Humanities at the University of New England. His main research interests include the historical and maritime archaeologies of the Australia-Pacific region.

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Foreword

"The artefacts and physical evidence located by Gibbs's excavations provide a fascinating picture of life in these little-documented settlements. An appendix includes information on 20 other sites along the West Australian coast, and the book is generously illustrated with photographs, sketches and tables."
Anne-Maree Whitaker   Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society