A Brief History of the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company
The Cheynes Beach Whaling Company was established in 1952 at Frenchman Bay in Albany, Western Australia, the site that remains today as Albany’s Historic Whaling Station. Despite what the name might suggest, the company was never based at Cheynes Beach. Instead, it was named after the coastal settlement east of Albany, where some of the founding families had worked as fishermen prior to entering the whaling industry.
Initially focused on hunting humpback whales, the company later shifted to targeting sperm whales, adapting to international quotas and changing whale populations. It became one of the most prominent commercial whaling operations in Australia, contributing significantly to Albany’s mid-20th-century economy.
Operations ceased in 1978, marking the end of commercial whaling in Australia. The site has since been preserved and transformed into Albany’s Historic Whaling Station – the world’s only fully restored whaling station open to the public, offering visitors a chance to explore this complex part of Australia’s maritime past.
On the evening 21st November 1978, the Cheynes II, Cheynes III and Cheynes IV berthed at the Albany Town Jetty after their last whale hunt. The last shore based whaling station in Australia closed and 178 years of whaling in Albany waters came to an end.
Whale spotter plane pilot John Bell recalled “… the last day of whaling I only saw one whale. A huge bull sperm whale. We hadn’t quite taken our quota for the year, but this monster was over 45 feet long. So we left him in peace.”
ABC journalist Les Johnson reported… “There was more than a touch of mere nostalgia on the Albany Town Jetty last night, when the three ships of the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company moved into their berths for the last time…Sirens blowing the traditional “cock-a-oodle-doo” of the ship in a memorable moment; flags were flying; the television and newspaper men were as busy on the jetty as any of the boarding house crimps of the great days of sail. But…I saw tears in the eyes of some men. There was no future for them, except in the mundane ranks of nine-to-fivers or the unemployed.”
Here at Albany’s Historic Whaling Station, we share these memories and many more. During your visit you will find yourself immersed in the stories of the workers, the whales and their place in the economic and social history of Albany. It is not always a pleasant story, but we believe it is an important story to share.
