STEVE EMBER: One sailor would throw a sharp harpoon into the whale. The harpoon was on a long rope, which was tied to the boat. The angry and frightened whale would then pull the boat for many kilometers at high speeds, seeking to escape. This was a very dangerous moment for the sailors.
Sometimes the lead sailor would decide to cut the line if the boat risked being pulled underwater. Other times the whale would escape. But often the animal became tired, permitting a sailor to launch another weapon deep into the creature. After the whale was dead, the sailors would then slowly and with great effort take it all the way back to the ship.
BARBARA KLEIN: After the kill, a sailor’s work was far from over. The crew worked day and night to remove fat from the whale and heat it in a fire. Boiling the fat and oil was the only way it would survive the long trip. This was hot, dirty and smelly work. One unlucky man on the ship would have to stand inside the whale’s head to remove the oil inside it.
MUSEUM SPEAKER: “But these men are not complaining. They know as long as they are boiling oil, they are making money.”
STEVE EMBER: Only after the whaling ship was filled with oil would the captain let it return home to Nantucket. This could require three to four years of capturing and killing whales.
The sperm whale skeleton in the museum was not actually part of a whale hunt. It died on a beach of Nantucket in nineteen ninety-eight, several days after washing up on land. Experts who examined the remains decided the whale died of natural causes. Some members of the local community had strong feelings about the death and worked to make sure the skeleton stayed on the island.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25