Whaler's Cabin on Point Lobos, California

The fishing off Point Lobos is incredible, something about kelp forests and a deep sea trench combined with rocky inlets off the California coast makes the marine life flourish in the area. With kelp, comes krill and with krill comes whales. As whales would pass by the point on their annual migrations whalers would take their boats out from this scenic cove and ambush them.

This Cabin dates back to the time around the California Gold Rush and was built in 1851 by Chinese Fishermen. Before the Panama canal was built, California would have been much closer to China than to Europe or the East Coast of USA. Much of the seafood industry on the west coast was dedicated to supply the asian market. Later the Cabin was occupied by Japanese and then Portuguese whalers. At one point there would have been dozens of cabins around the bay.

On one side of the cabin, there are Abalone shells, another popular delicacy to hunt in the area. You can still buy Abalone today, however whale meat is banned in California and most of the world.

On the other side of the cabin there are some whale bones. This area would be a cemetary. They would boil the whale blubber in giant cauldrons to render the fat to make oil for lighting homes, this was really popular 200 years ago until about 150 or so years ago when we started to use mineral oil based products like kerosene for light.

Times sure have changed since 1874, 150 years ago they used to brag about catching whales. Monterey is the town in the area, this museum is about 100 miles south of San Francisco or 100 kilometers south of the Apple headquarters San Jose.

Around the corner from the whaling cabin in the Point Lobos State Park we found a display with various mammal skulls and fur from the area. There were hundreds of seals and sea lions laying around on rocks off the coast of the park. Otters also love the California waters.

This display has some spoons and jewelry made out of abalone shells. There are some utensils for eating abalone and an entire room dedicated to the shellfish. Have you ever tried abalone?

They would free dive for abalone and would use old-school diving suits to pump air down to the bottom of the sea floor and walk around collecting abalone. A small can of abalone these days goes for about $50, it's a delicacy.

We aren't big fans of museums but this one was free and it's not everyday one comes across a whalers hut. It's amazing how much life has changed in the past 150 years. It is also interesting how the West coast was first colonized by the Europeans and not the Chinese or Japanese.

There's a seal on the rocks and one in the water near the whalers cabin. At one point the seals would have been fair game, before Americans were in California, Russians would have been hunting seals and sealions for their fur. They had a fort Ross in Sonoma County and somehow manage to bring the furs all the way back across Siberia to Moscow in the early 19th century which is incredible when one thinks about it.

The cove looks idyllic nowadays but at one point this inlet would have been filled with whale blood. How the times change. Thanks for reading.

All photos taken with an S22 or Iphone 15 pro and are unfiltered

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