Public Presentation: The 1871 Whaling Disaster and the Search for the Lost Fleet

In September of 1871, 32 whaling ships were caught in the ice along the shore of the Arctic Ocean in Alaska.  More than 1200 people were stranded.  The raging winds and grinding ice surrounding them made survival only a remote possibility. An event of historical significance, leading to the end of Yankee Whaling in the early 20^th Century. 

In 2015, a team from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Maritime Heritage Program went back to this place to try to write the final chapter of this compelling story of whaling history.

Date:         Wednesday, 16 May, 2018
Location:  Norðurslóð - ”Into the Arctic", Strandgötu 53
Time:         20:00 
Language: English
Speaker:   Brad Barr, Ph.D.
Fulbright-NSF Arctic Research Scholar
Senior Advisor, NOAA Maritime Heritage Program
Visiting Faculty, University Center of the Westfjords
Affiliate Professor, University of New Hampshire

Presentation Sponsored by: Stefansson Arctic Institute