Before photography, painted panoramas were often the only images the general public saw of distant lands. One such panorama from 1848, of "wondrous scenes of whaling and faraway islands," inspired a movie about the whaling industry; this album provides the musical score, in addition to familiar whaling songs set in New England, along the coast of South America, and on the Eastern Shore. Liner notes include images of the panorama, background information on whaling, and notes and lyrics for each song.