whaling

[slipknotpsycho]

what do they do with dead whales
eat em or what

http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/Envfacts/facts/whales.htm

Whales have been hunted by people for at least 4 000 years. In more recent times, the advent of commercial whaling in the open seas (in the 1700s and 1800s), and the development of the explosive cannon (1868) has resulted in a plundering of the world's whale stocks. Whales used to be hunted for a variety of products, including oil, whalebone and meat. The only product with special value today is the meat, most of which is eaten in Japan.

http://www.greenland.com/Adventures/Animal_Life/Whales/

A bowhead whale could provide up to 50 tons of meat and more than 1 km of baleen. The whale meat would be distributed round the settlement, some being dried and stored for the winter. The skin, which is particularly rich in vitamin C, was eaten, the blubber was utilised for heating, the teeth used for tools, and the baleen was used for cords and ropes. Rope made from baleen was exceptionally strong and was therefore also a greatly-prized commodity, used for bartering with both Norse settlers and, later, European whalers.

At the beginning of the 1600s, the introduction of bigger and stronger ships made it possible to sail to Svalbard and eastern Greenland in the hunt for the much sought-after whales.
Whale oil was used primarily for lighting and as a lubricant, but it was also utilised in the clothing industry for tanning leather, in rope making and for the manufacture of soap products, ship tar, varnish and paint. In addition, the glycerine content from the oil was used for manufacturing cosmetics and explosives.

The baleen, also known as whalebone, was used for ribs in corsets, parasols, fans, lamp shades and riding whips.

The whalers were especially interested in the bowhead whale (Balaena Mysticetus) and the right whale (Eubalaena Glacialis). These whales were slow moving, and just one Bowhead whale would provide 20-30 tons of oil.

As whale numbers fell, the whalers moved westward in their search. Here they encountered the Inuit and traded with them. The whalers bartered clothing, textiles, pottery and earthenware goods, brass kettles, tinware, beads and sewing needles and knives for blubber, teeth and skins. A shirt "cost" the staggering sum of 1.5 barrels of blubber or two fox skins.

the most ironic part of it all is that the rope tied to the harpoon was more than likely, made from baleen...