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Story: Whaling

Dividing the spoils

Image
Dividing the spoils

This diagram of a sperm whale, with its distinctive square head, was drawn in 1939 by A. H. McLintock to show the different ‘lays’ or shares distributed to the owners and to the crew on board a whaling ship.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: A-191-009

by Alexander Hare McLintock

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/diagram/6262/dividing-the-spoils (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 2 March 2009.