The Last Whale Harpooned by Australians

(First POSTED Tuesday, September 4, 2007)

Gordon Cruickshank on the Cheynes III in 1977. Photo Copyright Ed Smidt. All Rights Reserved.

Over the 26 years that the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company operated, about 16,100 whales were harpooned: 14,600 sperms whales; 1,500 humpback whales (according to Whale World).

The last whale was caught on November 20, 1978. That day nine whales were harpooned.

To fill the annual quota of 713 whales, the three whales chaser ships had to take six female sperm...