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Tools of the Trade
Arctic whaling was open boat that is to say it was carried out from a small rowing boat. Technology had not yet advanced to provide whalers with large canons that could fire massive harpoons with exploding warheads. This style of whaling was that made famous by Hollywood in films like Moby Dick. Guns were available from the 18th century but were only capable of propelling a very lightweight harpoon a short distance. The sole purpose of the harpoon in the Arctic industry was to fasten the boat to the whale. It had certainly no possibility of killing the whale.
