Processing the Whale

After a whale was killed and towed back to the ship, the messy, tedious job of cutting-in and rendering the blubber into oil commenced. With the carcass lashed to the starboard side of the ship, the officers “flensed” the blubber in large strips, while the crew winched these “blanket pieces” to the deck.


© Copyright 2001 Old Dartmouth Historical Society / New Bedford Whaling Museum