Recovering the harpoon from a partly flensed whale
Whales and Whaling pictures

Harpoons are large and expensive objects, they can also be readily used again, though often bent and buckled after use, one of the main reasons that whaling factory ships had a blacksmiths shop on board.

Once the flensing process is sufficiently progressed to expose the harpoon, it is cut out of the whale and taken for re-use. This whale appears white as this is a layer of connective tissue that has been exposed between the blubber that has been removed and the muscle of the whale that lies beneath this tissue.