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Whaling guns
and bomb lances - Whales and
Whaling pictures 20
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Pierce
and Cunningham darting-gun; a combined harpoon and lance Used
largely by Arctic whalemen. Fig. 2. Cunningham and Cogan gun
Length, 33 inches; weight, 27 pounds; used by Arctic whalers with
bomb lance Fig. 3. Brand muzzle-loading whaling-gun and bomb lance.
Various firearms were brought into play to try
and kill whales more efficiently and to avoid having to approach
an injured and dangerous whale too closely. These were used with
varying degrees of success, though none were as reliable as the
old-fashioned method of dispatching the whale using a heavy wooden
handled lance wielded by an experienced man.
It wasn't until 1864 when Swede Sven Foyn
invented the heavy explosive harpoon that could hit a whale 50yds
that the hand harpoon was finally replaced.
Image courtesy NOAA |
The
whaling gallery is a collection of images from a
whole range of sources. It is intended to inform
and illustrate a now (thankfully) vanished occupation and way of life that for the men
so engaged was hard and often
dangerous. It is intended for historical interest rather than a commentary on the ethics of whaling. |
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