Whalers' Graves

The Government of the Northwest Territories has designated the two whalers' gravesites at Balaena Bay, Parry Peninsula, a Territorial Historic Site. Two upright, ornate wooden headboards mark this site. They mark the death of eight men from the Grampus and Balaena whale ships in 1895-1896.

These graves are poignant reminders of the profitable and dramatic whaling industry in Canada's western arctic. The western arctic was the last frontier of the world whaling industry, and its final flourish before declining in the early 1900's. The whalers' graves headboards are handsome, ornate remains of this era, and two of the few remaining examples of their type.

Source: Consolidation of Historical Sites Declaration.

-ornate woodcarving

-metal and wooden finials

-legible inscription on the headboard

-location over the whalers' burial site with an expansive view from the shore to the sea