Austral Enterprises : a history of shore, bay-based and pelagic whaling and sealing in the Southern Ocean encompassing The Southern Whaling & Sealing Company, The Kerguelen Sealing & Whaling Company and their associated enterprises at South Georgia, the Antarctic peninsula, the South Indian Ocean and South Africa /Ian Hart.

"There have been many accounts of twentieth century heroic British expeditions to the waters of the Antarctic and southern hemisphere but very few to date have covered another important British endeavour - the hunting of whales and seals. This book contributes towards putting this right. The Southern Whaling and Sealing Company of North Shields and Cape Town and its successors owned and managed by Lever Irvin and Johnson of Cape Town became some of the most important companies that plied this trade. Whaling and sealing in the southern oceans in the early 1900s was an honoured and respected industry, employing thousands of skilled men and workers in harsh, remote and demanding conditions, bringing home important raw materials and products that the country was glad to receive. The result is a fascinating account of British involvement in the whaling and sealing industry which operated from the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, in the ice-strewn Indian Ocean as well as from land stations on the east and west coasts of southern Africa. The book also explores how the availability and marketing of whale and seal oil by the companies concerned had a considerable influence in the edible oil market and the improtant consumable products that were derived from this trade. Over time this trade had a profound effect on the whale and seal populations of the Southern Ocean, leading to a revulsion in the methods used, at least in sealing, and the start of proposals to conserve stocks and create wildlife sanctuaries."--Provided by the publisher.