Cutting
in a Humpback Whale at Provincetown, Massachusetts. The precursor
to whaling ships that processed whales while still at sea was the
shore station. Here, a try-works built of brick is placed on the
quay and a captured whale has been brought to shore to be flensed
of blubber and otherwise processed.
Keeping the whale in the shallows made it
possible to turn it over more easily as the flensing proceeded and
meant that it was stable at the same time.
This was possible in the early whaling days when
whales were plentiful and came near to shore. As time went on and
the stocks were depleted or more probably, those populations that
tended to swim close to shore were wiped out, so whaling had to
progress more and more offshore.
Image courtesy NOAA
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