Before I found out more about this whale, I took
it to be a fin whale on account of the colouration of the
baleen. It turns out however to have been a blue whale that was
taken around Europe and Britain on a tour on the back of a truck
in the 1950's and 1960's. The Times, 31 March, 1954 reported:
"South Bank Whale Jonah, the
Giant Whale" which is to be exhibited under Waterloo Bridge on
the south bank from April 2, arrived from Dunkirk yesterday in a
Dutch coaster. The vessel docked at Dagenham and the 65ft.
rorqual was unloaded on to a 10-wheeled lorry which transports
it on land. The whale had been touring Holland, Belgium, Germany
and France since last September and has been kept in good
condition by an internal refrigeration plant and daily
injections of formalin. It was killed off Trondheim, Norway in
September 1952."
Such "events" drew crowds to see the
enormous beasts. It looks like in this one, the "whaler"
if he indeed is, is to speak about the whale and its capture. His
foot is on an explosive harpoon which would have been used to
impale, kill or maim and hold the whale and to his left is the
broad bore cannon out of which the harpoon would have been fired.
The whale's mouth looks to be propped open, by something behind
the whaler to show the baleen plates.
For more about "Jonah" the blue whale on tour see
here
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