The best drawing of an orca I have ever seen! In 1817 Bernard O'Reilly travelled to Greenland and through the North West Passage. His travelogue (whose authenticity has been questioned) contains this great picture wiki.app.uib.no/marinelexicon/…)

Dear #MedievalSky & #SkyStorians, could you help, please? I am looking for depictions of orcas from before 1700 I already know: Olaus Magnus, Sebastian Münster, Pierre Belon, Guillaume Rondelet, Conrad Gessner, as well as the ones on bestiary.ca (s. pic) & the mural in Greifswald Thanks in advance!

Who could fail to recognise the #whale ( #cetus ) with its characteristic shape and scales? #melvillemonday #historicalwhale Jacob van Maerlant, Der naturen bloeme (1300); Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Ms. germ. f. 52 digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?...

I finally made it to Olaus Magnus's Carta Marina. The map was printed in Rome in 1539 while Olaus Magnus, the Archbishop of Uppsala, was in his exile there. 1/10

🚨🐳We’re putting together a panel on #whales in medieval #literature for #IMC2026! Two papers are already confirmed: Icelandic sagas and English poetry. We’re looking for one more speaker to join us. If your research touches literary traditions too, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please DM.

Currently travelling on the night train via Stockholm to the #ESEH2025 conference in Uppsala. I am very grateful for the opportunity to discuss initial ideas on how stranded #whales were used by pamphlet authors of different denominations in their arguments. #envhist www.conftool.pro/eseh2025/ind...

Drawings of right and sperm whales, accompanied by the coordinates at which they were sighted. #Log of the ship Indian Chief by Thomas R. Bloomfield (1842–1844). #whale #historicalwhale #oceanspast 🌐https://archive.org/details/ms220log119/page/n3/mode/2up

Great excitement in 1617: whale beached near Scheveningen, and all the best people are out to have a look. Immortalized in paint by Esaias van de Velde, who was born OTD in 1587.

Warning: Probably the grumpiest #dolphin in the world. Adriaen Coenen, Walvisboek (1584-1585); dams.antwerpen.be/asset/jUZJkH...

A very handy looking fish.... BL Add MS 11390, f.50v

The fish are alive with the sound of music! BL Sloane 3544; Bestiary; 13th century; England; f.42v

Initial 'S'(alvum me fac) at the beginning of Psalm 68, depicting Jonah being hurled into the sea and then sitting on a purple fish. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 075; Glossed Psalter (Glossa ordinaria); 13th c; England; f.122r @parkerlibcccc.bsky.social @corpuscambridge.bsky.social

Actually, I was looking for a picture of a whale in Ulisse Aldrovandi's De piscibus (1613), but then I came across this one: a harbour #seal ('vitulus marinus'). 📖 historica.unibo.it/entities/pub...

A whale of good news! 🐳 Today I signed a contract with the @uniwalespress.bsky.social to write the book "Introduction to the Medieval Whale"! I am very grateful for the opportunity. Excited to dive into the depths of medieval whale history. Join the voyage! 🖼️Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 1511, f. 86v

The uterus of a #dolphin, even with fetus 🐬 Illustration from 1558! 📖 Gessner, Historiae animalium, lib. 4, p. 381

Today my research project on the "History of the Whale in Flanders, the Netherlands and Northern Germany (c.1300-1600)" starts. I will be looking at the management and use of (mostly stranded) whales in non-whaling societies 🖼️A. Coenen, Walvisboek (1584-85); Antwerp, Erfgoedbibl. Hendrik Conscience

A 1794 Japanese artist gave the beauty of this #humpback #whale three pages. Let’s give them more than just pages—let’s protect their oceans #WorldWhaleDay #SaveTheWhales 🌐https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN3303600015&view=overview-tiles&PHYSID=PHYS_0068&DMDID=DMDLOG_0021

For #WorldWhaleDay, the medieval bestiary version of a #whale. 🐳 Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1511 (The Ashmole Bestiary), folio 86v. England, first quarter 13th century. digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/faef... See ALT for more info!

Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the whales, for today is their special day! This engraving of a 'Common Whale' [bowhead whale] and narwhal can be found in 'Animated Nature Vol. 2' (1821) by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. 📷 Reserve 590 BUF #WorldWhaleDay #RareBooks

Whales and dolphins from "Johnson's Household Book of Nature, Containing Full and Interesting Descriptions of the Animal Kingdom," edited by Hugh Craig, New York, 1880. #WorldWhaleDay #whales #naturalhistory

Whales from ‘Naturhistorischer Bildersaal des Thierreiches: nach William Jardine, nebst einem Vorworte von Karl Vogel' by Friedrich Treitschke, Pesth: C. A. Hartleben, 1840-43. These illustrations are also found in ‘The Naturalist’s Library.’ #WorldWhaleDay #whales #historyofnaturalhistory

Who’s an adorable little whale? You are! [From a ca. 1830 chapbook: A Short History of Birds and Beasts]

"Fishes [are] reptiles which swim [...]. Although they can dive into the depths, they can still move in a creeping motion as they swim." Now you know. 🖼️📖Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 764, f. 106r-v (Bestiary, ca. 1226-1250); digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/e6ad...

Drawing of a #shark. This was made at the behest of the encyclopaedist Conrad #Gessner in the mid-16th century on the basis of a skeleton. #oceanspast 📖Gessner, Historia animalium, lib. 4 (1558), p. 207; daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0008/bsb...

Having a whale of a time! Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 764; Bestiary; 13th century; England; f.107r @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social

In 1545, a killer #whale washed up in the #Baltic Sea near #Greifswald (DE) This led to the first scientific description of the species in Europe. The stranding is also associated with the death of Martin #Luther 1/9 #whalehist 🖼️http://www.marien-greifswald.de/index.php/rundgang.html

#Moonfish, caught by a dutch fisherman in 1560 and drawn by Adriaen #Coenen, fishmonger and author of three 'fish books' Moonfish/ #Sunfish are rare in the North Sea. Three(!) are recorded 1560-83 1/6 🖼️https://galerij.kb.nl/kb.html#/nl/visboek/page/154/zoom/2/lat/-59.355596110016315/lng/20.7421875

Hug the #whale day! 🖼️Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 412, fol. 244v (Northern France, ca. 1285); gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...

This is ‘Miss Clara’. This #rhinoceros came to Europe from India in 1741, where she was shown in many places and became very famous. I saw the bronze figure (c. 1770) in the museum today and then followed some of Clara’s tracks. 1/9 🦏 #Birmingham, The #Barber Institute, attr. to P.A. v. Verschaffelt

Saint #Anthony preaches to the #fish #Fresco in the Basilica of Sant'Antonio in #Padua (1519) His 'audience' seems a little weird, but very attentive. How did this preaching come about? Could there be a real natural phenomenon behind the miracle? (I was just curious) 🧵1/7 🖼️wikimedia

Initial 'E'(t) at the beginning of Jonah depicting the prophet Jonah emerging from the whale while holding onto the initial #BLMontpellierBible4772 BL Harley MS 4772; the ‘Montpellier Bible’, vol 1; 1st quarter of 12th century; France, S.E.(?Lyons); f.289r

Enchanting illustrations 🦜 17th century #manuscript of the Four #Gospels 📖 The #Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts, @unibirmingham.bsky.social epapers.bham.ac.uk/105/index2.h... #skystorians

The three-part #whale. This book entitled 'Geishi' (Blubber) was produced in #Japan in 1794. It contains large format drawings of 15 species of whales. Here: a right whale. I am absolutely fascinated by it (and wish I could read Japanese) #whalehist digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/...

During the reign of Emperor Claudius, an #orca entered the port of #Ostia (42AD). It was attracted by a shipwreck and became trapped by sand. Claudius ordered ships to attack it and kill it with lances to entertain the people #whalehist #whale 📖Pliny, Nat Hist, IX,v,14-15 🖼️Cooper Hewitt, 1901-39-114

Detail from a whalebone plaque which was part of the grave goods associated with a Viking boat burial found near the village of Scar on Sanday in Orkney. Dating to between 875 to 950 AD, the plaque is part of the collections at Orkney Museum #MedievalMonday 📸 My own.

Monstrous fish in Suffolk! "A most true and marvelous strange wonder" (1568) described by Timothy Granger. archive.org/details/bim_...

#Ambergris is formed in the digestive tract of sperm whales, where it encloses the beaks of squid they eat. In #medieval Europe, a theory circulated that it was the excrement of birds living in India - possibly due to a misinterpretation of the beaks it contained 🖼️ pdimagearchive.org/images/bc313...

Mystery on the margins: Where do these fish swim to? - Into the mouth of a #whale! According to medieval bestiaries, whales emitted a sweet odour to attract fish, which they could then comfortably eat. #medievalsky #whalehist (13th c.; BnF, Latin 6838B, f.37; portail.biblissima.fr/ark:/43093/i...)

During a stormy walk on #Lindisfarne today I found the carcass of a bottlenose or a white-beaked #dolphin washed up on the shore and reported it to the CSIP (@nhm-london.bsky.social). The very friendly reply said that the animal had been there since October. That somehow touches me all the more

Northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon rostratus), Adriaen Coenen, 1584 (Rijksmuseum)

In the beginning was the word: „The #cuttlefish has two legs, with which it moves food to its mouth.“ Then came the illustrator: 📜 Thomas of Cantimpré, Liber de natura rerum, 7.46 (Lolligo) 🖼️ Valenciennes, Bibliothèque municipale, Ms. 320, f. 127 (portail.biblissima.fr/fr/ark:/4309...) #medievalsky

#Hedgehog of the day 15th c.; BnF, Latin 1156 B, f.176 (portail.biblissima.fr/ark:/43093/i...)

It's #Christmas, so here is an early 12th century carved whale bone depicting the adoration of the magi, likely from #Spain #medieval #art

Ok, there is no Father #Christmas. But #Rudolph the red-nosed #reindeer is real, isn't he? Is he??? (Walters Manuscript W.88, fol. 115v; flickr.com/photos/medms...) #medievalsky Happy holidays everyone!

Ok, there is no Father #Christmas. But #Rudolph the red-nosed #reindeer is real, isn't he? Is he??? (Walters Manuscript W.88, fol. 115v; flickr.com/photos/medms...) #medievalsky Happy holidays everyone!

Seal. It seems as if it is seeing itself for the first time... Bestiary, England, c. 1230 Cambridge University Library, MS Kk.4.25, f. 92v cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-KK-0...

Whales in Fault Lines A new video output of the ERC Sy Grant #4oceans project is online. It results from the research conducted in Lisbon, history of whales, strandings and earthquakes. Full video: youtu.be/z-PEtSOu2Ek?... #bluehumanities #marenvhist #whaleshistory #baleias #humanities4theocean

Thar he preaches! Pulpits in the shape of whales (from Poland and Czech Republic) 1) Dobroszów, St Hedwig, ca. 1750, rebuilt in 1856 2) Duszniki-Zdroj, Church of St Peter&Paul 3) Kratonohy, St James the Greater, ca. 1710 4) Bošilec, St. Marin (moved from the demolished St Barbara in Třebon in 1786)

#Siren Mum. Sirens are usually depicted with comb and mirror, with a fish in their hand (symbolising the soul of the sailors they enchanted) or with musical instruments. But they apparently also sang privately - to their (carefully swaddled) babies… digitale-sammlungen.llb-detmold.de/content/zoom...