In 1786, the Triumph was the first British whaler to be sent east of the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1788, the whaler Emilia was sent west around Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean to become the first ship of any nation to conduct whaling operations in the Southern Ocean.

A 40-ton gray whale carcass represents roughly 2,000 years’ worth of the carbon that would otherwise fall—mostly in the form of small detritus particles that are known as marine snow and are a vital food for many deep-sea creatures—into its footprint on the seabed.

Deep sea whaling began in the 18th century. The English followed by the Dutch established large scale whaling operations in the early 1700s. They were later joined by Russians and Americans.

Nantucketer Christopher Hussey kills the island's first sperm whale, and deep-ocean whaling commences. For the next century and a half, Nantucketers will specialize in hunting sperm whales.

When whalers started hunting sperm whales from the deep ocean, the nature of whaling changed. Expeditions became longer and whales needed to be flensed onboard. However, new discoveries in the...