Title: Coast watch
Identifier: coastwatch00uncs_0 (find matches)
Year: 1979 (1970s)
Authors: UNC Sea Grant College Program
Subjects: Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology
Publisher: (Raleigh, N. C. : UNC Sea Grant College Program)
Contributing Library: State Library of North Carolina
Digitizing Sponsor: North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

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The remains of a maritime forest on Harkers Island Life went on much as it had in Dia- mond City. Most residents were fisher- men and boat builders. They lived sim- ply and what little money they had came from the shore whaling that they did during a short season each year. According to amateur historian Mrs. Earl Davis of Harkers Island, whaling on Shackleford Banks had been a com- munity effort. During the season the men of Diamond City would take turns watching for whales from Lookout Hill. Once a whale was sighted a crew of eight men would be put together to give it chase. The men shot old- fashioned harpoons and later, harpoon guns, from their sturdy little boats. The chase often lasted hours. Families who watched from the shore would later be enlisted in the laborious process of cutting the whale up. After the chase Once the dead whale was hauled ashore, blubber had to be cut off and dried out or cooked in large pots set up on the beach. The resulting oil was poured into 50 gallon barrels and sold to merchants in Beaufort and Morehead City. The bone, which was used mostly for corsets and umbrella ribs, also brought a good price. Diamond City whaling crews had a tradition of giving names to the whales they killed. Mayflower, caught one May 4, was reputed to be among the toughest to subdue. The Little Children was a whale killed by a crew made up largely of young boys. Whaling days didn't end until 1918 and whaling stories are still told on Harkers Island. Charlie Hancock likes to recount one of the most famous of the Diamond City whaling stories. "This is the story I've been told by my father who said he was told by his father," he begins. It had been a long season without whales one year when Hancock's grandfather was a young man living in Diamond City. Finally one day a whale was sighted and the men went after it. They harpooned the whale but, after a long fight, lost it. "They hung to until after dark" but finally gave up the search and went home— disconsolate. "It was a bright moonshiney night and my grandfather couldn't sleep. . . . In the night sometime he got to sleep but he dreamed that the whale had died and had caught up on the Cape Lookout point. He was a fast runner and he went around and told all the boys. 'The whale,' he says, T dreamed it so plain. It's there.' Some of them thought it was just a nightmare or what have you, but they decided to go look." 'One chance left' As the story goes Hancock ran several miles to Lookout Point, by the light of the moon. Sure enough, there was the whale, beached. "When the boys got there, he told them, 'Now we've got one chance left. We've got to go to Beaufort tomorrow and see if we can get rope enough.' And they had to do that by their honor because they didn't have any money." Hancock sailed to Beaufort the next morning and found a merchant willing to let him have rope on credit. With the rope, the men secured the whale on shore. There was spending money that year after all. I want Coastwatch Coastwatch is a free newsletter. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list, fill out this form and send it to Sea Grant, Box 5001, Raleigh, N.C. 27650. Name Address City State ... Zip Code

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