Despite
the advent of industrial whaling and the invention of the
explosive harpoon at the end of the 1800's, traditional whaling
methods persisted long after, particularly amongst the
inhabitants of relatively isolated populations who had
historically caught whales.
Here a traditional whaling boat from the Azores
Islands in mid-Atlantic on the same latitude as southern Spain and
North Africa is catching a sperm whale in the traditional manner
with hand harpoon in the 1950's.
The men
of the Azores Islands were often found on the crews of whaling
ships in the sailing days. They would often occupy high rankings
amongst the ship's crew as they tended to be very experienced and
skilled in their craft as well as well suited to the life on board
a whaling ship.
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