Judith Lund said in an interview. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP While at least 214 whaling voyages ventured into The Gulf, Judith Lund said, ships from the Northeast rarely made extended port calls in Southern cities like New Orleans or Mobile, Alabama, because of the threat to crew members who weren't white. That may may have been a reason the whaling ship that rescued Industry's crew took the men back to Massachusetts, where slavery was outlawed in the 1780s, rather than landing in the South. ‘’ The people who whaled in the Gulf of Mexico knew it was risky to go into those ports down there because they had mixed crews.