The whales revenge and firing a bomb lance
Whales and whaling pictures - 8

As time progressed and technology advanced, so the "bomb lance" was invented. This was a large and extremely heavy gun not unlike a shotgun that fired a heavy-weight missile that penetrated the whale and exploded hopefully killing the whale and rendering it unnecessary to proceed closer and use the hand lance. Like much new technology, this was very unpopular at first, the "kick" of the heavy missile in one direction could easily knock the firer over backwards or even overboard in the other direction.