Gary Griggs, Our Ocean Backyard: Whaling has long history in state
(WorldNews Environment)

Seeing humpback whales breaching right offshore, or gray whales migrating south in winter to the lagoons of Baja California or back north in the spring to feed in the Bering Sea, is one of those special things we get to enjoy living on the edge of Monterey Bay. It´s hard to imagine that within many of our lifetimes, however, the world´s largest animals were still slaughtered along the California coast and processed for pet food, chicken feed and bone meal. And much of this industry was due to the advent of shore whaling started by Capt. John Davenport. Originally from Rhode Island, he had been half-owner of a large schooner that sailed between California and Hawaii from 1845 to 1852, trading...