In addition to stalking whales, the crews, which included Inuit, also began the exploitation of other "game", in this case a polar bear whose skin would command a handsome price. The whalers ranged far and wide and in many cases their incidental victims were the lnuit themselves, who became dependent on white man's goods, food, guns and liquors, to the point where they were beginning to lose their ability to fend for themselves.
