In the 19th century Arctic
bowhead whaling, conducted from ports right along the east coast of the country, was vital for the Scottish
jute industry, especially for processing jute fibre in
Dundee. Whale oil was also used for street lighting. The two main Scottish ports were Dundee and
Peterhead.
Greenock was the only significant whaling port on the west coast. Whaling was also conducted on the west coast. A station at Bun Abhainn Eadarra near
Tarbert in the
Outer Hebrides was founded by the Norwegian Karl Herlofsen in 1904. Later acquired by
Lever Brothers it was abandoned by them in 1929. Operations continued under new owners but it finally closed in 1951. Little remains to be seen of the site except the incongruous red brick chimney. The Scottish whaling industry rapidly declined at the beginning of the 20th century, and ended completely in 1963 when Edinburgh-based
Christian Salvesen, once the largest whaling company in the world, withdrew from the industry and sold its last two whaling vessels. Although whaling in now considered to be a controversial trade, for many centuries it was a vital element of the
Scottish economy. ==Pioneering role of Scottish whalers in Antarctic exploration==