Program: Session VI
Session VI
Wed. 30 September
15:30–17:00
Ruuma (Linnanpuomi, ground floor)
Chair: Robert Louhimies
Thomas Lennerfors (Uppsala University)
From Context to Cuteness: On the Representation of the Ocean and Animals in the Shipping Industry
This paper examines how the ocean and non-human animals are represented in the annual reports of contemporary shipping companies, situating these representations within broader gaps in maritime research. While modern shipping studies have largely overlooked ship–animal relationships, with only limited attention to cases such as Maersk’s communication following the Maersk Norwich incident, this study addresses the absence by analysing how shipping companies depict animals and marine environments in corporate discourse.
Drawing on Human–Animal Studies and Blue Humanities, the paper explores nearly four decades of annual reporting to identify recurring visual and textual patterns. The findings show that the ocean is predominantly framed as a backdrop, a demanding force, or a site of vulnerability. Animals appear infrequently and are typically aestheticized in simplified or “cute” forms. Both are thus instrumentalized to reinforce narratives of corporate competence, resilience, and quality, rather than presented as active participants in ecological relationships.
Temporal variations in representation align with corporate development and broader cultural trends, including increased public awareness of animal welfare and the rise of visual social media. However, even when animals appear in closer proximity to ships, they remain framed in ways that support corporate identity rather than ecological complexity.
Methodologically, the study demonstrates the value of reading for absence, visual metaphor, and subtle imagery in corporate archives, revealing the “silences” that shape industrial narratives. Overall, the analysis highlights a persistent tension in maritime communication: the ocean and its inhabitants are acknowledged only insofar as they serve human-centered, technical, and financial priorities, underscoring the need for more ecologically attuned approaches to maritime studies.
Emilia Syväsalmi (independent researcher and teacher)
Wondering the Depths: Experiences of the Sea and Whales on 19th-Century Whaling Ships
How does a prolonged residence on a ship affect one’s perceptions of the sea and its inhabitants? “Into the deep” was a common phrase used by whaling captain’s wives who were travelling with their husbands on the 19th century US whaling ships. Wives wrote about the sea as an environment, but it was also a place. Each day, they observed the sea and described how it looked; sometimes as smooth as molten glass, other times rising into gigantic waves full of fury.
Whaling ships ventured out solely for whales which were often referred as “the monster of the deep”. When pursued, the whales disappeared into the depths. They broke harpoon ropes, prompting men to question the sea’s true depth and the creatures within it.
Religious women who had been raised in eastern US coastal towns viewed the sea and its creatures as God’s creation. Women often wrote how everything in the deep must be wonderful, because they are the works of God.
The depth was also considered a frightening element. For the seamen the death at sea was considered a horrible accident, because they would be buried into the waves. When their body was committed to the deep, all were present on deck. Shipboard funerals unified everyone in grief, regardless of age or nationality.
Captains’ wives recorded in their journals the daily life aboard whaling ships, detailing how every part of their life depended on the surrounding waters. This presentation examines how the wives portray the sea as an environment and whales as deep-sea monsters in their journals.