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Once
whales were sighted and the captain gave the order,
whaleboats, each manned by six men, would be lowered
away to give chase.
When a boat was almost touching the hulking back of
the leviathan, the officer on board would call to
the harpooneer at the bow oar to stand, turn, and
strike. This is the moment captured here, in a dramatic
photo of one of the Wanderer’s boat crews in
October 1923.
It was a dangerous business, with the lives of all
six men aboard hanging upon the skill and timing of
the two officers in charge.
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