Cetacean strandings in Ghana artisanal fishing boats and are towed to port. The Vridi specimen was harpooned for research purposes. A single skeletal specimen was known for Ghana and was probably collected in 1956. Killer whales are present in Gulf of Guinea waters although population size is not considered in great numbers. A killer whale was harpooned some 15-20 nm south of Abidjan in 1958 but the animal sank. This shows that killer whales are present in the West African marine waters. Observers on industrial tuna purse-seiners reported a few sightings off the coast of Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana. The first record in
History of Liberia Leone, and the Natives of Africa generally, in the Cultivation of their Soil, by the Sale of their Produce.” As Wright put it, "Cuffee hoped to send at least one vessel each year to Sierra Leone, transporting African-American settlers and goods to the colony and returning with marketable African products." The first ship, "Mayflower of Liberia" (formerly "Elizabeth"), departed New York on February 6, 1820, for West Africa carrying 86 settlers. Between 1821 and 1838, the American Colonization Society developed the first settlement, which would be known as Liberia. On July 26, 1847, the country declared independence. As early as