 The Dundee Whaling Expedition , 1892 – 93 , was an attempt to investigate the commercial possibilities of whaling in Antarctic waters by locating a source of right whales in the region . Scientific observations and oceanographic research would also be carried out in the four whaling ships : Balaena , Active , Diana and Polar Star . Bruce was recommended to the expedition by Hugh Robert Mill , an acquaintance from Granton who was now librarian to the Royal Geographical Society in London . Although it would finally curtail his medical studies , Bruce did not hesitate ; with William Gordon Burn Murdoch as an assistant he took up his duties on Balaena under Capt. Alexander Fairweather . The four ships sailed from Dundee on 6 September 1892 . 
