‘I have in my possession a number of log-books…they contain information which if rightly understood seems capable of being turned to scientific account.’
Old whaling log books can help scientists to understand how the climate has changed. People have lived and worked in the Arctic for a very long time. Some of the earliest European travellers to the Arctic were whalers, catching whales for oil and blubber.
Captain David Gray was called ‘the Prince of Whalers’ because of his wealth and success. His son thought that his whaling log books would be useful to scientists. He was right. Whalers collected lots of information about the sea ice and weather in the Arctic, which helped them to hunt whales and stay safe.
These records can be useful scientists today, helping them to understand how the weather and climate of the Arctic have changed.