Title: Coast watch
Identifier: coastwatch00uncs_1 (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

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
'
Text Appearing After Image:
From his Harkers Island home, Alan Moore points to his native "Banks" more often than not included a relative from Shackleford Banks. "They ate loons and a bird they called a teetee bird, which was some kind of sparrow," Hepburn says. "They ate robins. I've often heard they prepared a dish called 'rice and robins.' " For drinking water, the people of Shackleford Banks built wells by sink- ing two or three large pork barrels into the ground, Moore says. They dipped the water out with a long stick which had a bucket at the end. The Bankers sold salted mullet and whale oil to buy necessities such as cloth, flour and coffee. Moore says the coffee was bought green. It had to be parched in an iron pot over a low fire and then beat into small pieces for brewing. Moore remembers how the lush maritime forest, thick with cedars, oaks and pines, once covered the island. The Bankers' homes, built from forest timbers or wreck lumber, sat on stilts that lifted them off the ground. Hepburn says the Bankers piled empty clam and oyster shells beneath their houses to prevent the wind from cup- ping under the house during storms. And no talk of Diamond City would be complete without mention of whal- ing. The Bankers grouped together in crews for whaling season, which lasted from Christmas until April. One crew member kept a constant watch for the giant mammals from a "crows nest" established on the tallest dune. When a whale was sighted, a crew of six to eight men would run into the surf carrying their 22-foot whale boat, or pilot boat as it was called. The pilot boats were light-weight, sturdy vessels with lapstraked hulls. Once in the water, the pilot boats were propelled by oars and sails. The whalers used harpoons and har- poon guns to make their kill. The most accurate man with the harpoon was always stationed at the head of the boat; another at the stern. Once the harpoons were fired and the whale began its struggle for life, the crew and boat were always in danger of being struck by the whale's lashing tail. After a kill was made, the whale was pulled to shore. Huge chunks of blub- ber were cut from the whale and taken to a board where they were sliced into smaller pieces. The small pieces were cooked in iron pots to release their oil. The oil was skimmed from the surface of the boiling pot. The cooked blubber was removed from the pot, squeezed for its last drop of oil, and thrown in the pot's fire for fuel. This process was called "trying out" the whale and it could take from one to two weeks to complete. The Bankers liked to name the whales they killed. One whale caught in May was donned Mayflower. Another was named "The Little Children" because it was captured by a group of young boys. And for lack of good name, one whale received the ti- tle of "Haint Bin Named Yet." Moore says he made one whaling trip with his father, but didn't enjoy Continued on next page

Note About Images