This 1993 illustration by Dianne Sutherland shows a whale boat in pursuit of a Greenland Right whale, the industry's principal quarry.

A Greenland Right Whale could be sixty feet long and produce ten tons of blubber oil. Whalebone (baleen), which hung in strands from the animal's upper jaw, was a highly priced material used for numerous products from carriage springs to woman's stays. We now know that the largest whales might be well over 100 years of age.

19th century whale ships carried about six whale boats which were propelled by oars. When a whale was spotted by the watchman in the crow's nest a pair of boats were launched in pursuit. The harpooner, in the boat's bow, took charge of the hunt which could take several hours and cover a great distance.

©SCRAN/Aberdeenshire Council Whale hunt in the Greenland Sea