Whaling men spent many long hours at sea and in harbour when there was nothing for them to do except wait. In the North these hours were filled with hunting expeditions, card playing and singsongs. One of the whalers' favourite pastimes was scrimshawing, the art of drawing designs on whale teeth taken from dead animals. In the Arctic the whales did not have teeth so the sailor had to bring a supply with them. Designs like this one were etched into the tooth with a knife or a needle, then dyed black or red
Courtesy: National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada
