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Words: Matt Gazy  Producer: Simone Kealy
A look back at Byron Bay's whaling history  
 Byron Bay today is one of NSW's most spectacular whale-watching destinations, but not so long ago, it was a whaling town - until the giant animals were hunted to the brink of extinction. 
From 1954 to 1962, 1146 whales were slaughtered to produce valuable oil while the Byron Bay whaling station operated.
Byron Whaling Company
The Byron Whaling Company owned the local meatworks and was permitted to take 150 humpback whales per season. 
Once a whale was harpooned, the carcass was pumped full of air and floated behind a boat in to the Byron jetty.
A gruesome trade
After being trucked to the meatworks, a flenser – someone paid to cut whale blubber for a living – would remove the fat, skin and meat.
The skin and blubber were boiled – separating valuable oils producing roughly 10 tonnes per whale.
Lucrative commodity
The oils were used to produce margarine, explosives, lubricants, cosmetics and detergents. The meat was cut into pieces; snap frozen and exported to England for pet food.
By the late nineteenth century, the humpback population had been hunted to near extinction.
Dire consequences
As their populated waned, workers had to sail further from Cape Byron to find them. The whales became smaller and leaner each year, halving the oil and meat harvest.
Unsustainable economically and ecologically, the Byron Whaling Company ceased operations in October 1962.
Whaling stations in Australia and New Zealand killed more than 40,000 humpbacks on their migrations from the Antarctic Ocean to the north of Australia.
Commercial whaling in Australia ceased in 1978 and in 1979, Australia adopted an anti-whaling policy, permanently ending whaling in Australian waters.
																											

Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/web-stories/free/byron-shire-news/byron-bay-whaling-industry-a-historical-look-from-1954-1962