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A harpooned whale would thrash in the water and drag the whaling boat until exhausted. The boats would approach and the steersman would kill the suffering creature with the thrust of a lance. If there were a number of boats, those who claimed the whale would mark their catch with a flag attached to the lance.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Reference: PUBL-0003
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.