Harpoons were not intended to kill a whale, but to attach a line by implanting the harpoon’s barbed head into the animal’s blubber.
The whale would fight the harpoon and eventually tire, allowing the crew in the whaleboat to move in close for the kill. Sometimes the whale’s reaction to being harpooned was so vehement that it twisted the iron into knots, as is the case with the harpoon at left.