By the mid-19th century, American whalers dominated the industry, although it was not until the early-18th century that the industry began to prosper here. Discovery of sperm whale well off the New England coast prompted development of whaling ships, that soon began to hunt into the Pacific Ocean and even into the waters off Australia. More than 700 of about 950 whaling vessels in the world about 1850 were American. The Charles W. Morgan, shown on the stamp, is an example of the ships.