By the early 1890s whaling in the Arctic, an industry dominated by Norway and Scotland, was in decline. Over exploitation forced the attention to the possibilities of new whaling grounds in the south. Whale sightings by James Clark Ross and other explorers in the early 1800s, brought whaling ships to Antarctic waters.
Whaling companies funded two important expeditions in the search for whales, one from Dundee and one from Norway. The Dundee Whaling expedition, 1892-1893, was led by Alexander Fairweather aboard the wooden whaling barque Baleana. The Norwegian Whaling expedition, 1892-1894, was led by Carl Anton Larsen, Captain of Jason.
The renewed economic interest, combined with a growing scientific interest started the ‘push to the south’. The numerous, groundbreaking Antarctic expeditions in the 1890s and 1900s have meant that the era today is known as the ‘Heroic Age of Exploration’ – a time often associated with names including Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Roald Amundson. Despite participating in three Antarctic expeditions in this era, Larsen remains mostly unknown.