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Story: Whaling

Shooting the harpoon

Image
Shooting the harpoon

Once whalers had sighted a whale they would hurl a harpoon attached to a rope, as shown in this 1814 aquatint etching by John Hewside Clark.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0005

by John Hewside Clark

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Whaling – Pursuit and capture, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/6258/shooting-the-harpoon (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 2 March 2009.