Point Cloates Whaling Station in the 1950s

The Point Cloates operations began in July 1949. Whaling was a bloody, grisly affair. Once the whale was tracked and killed its carcass was dragged from the water where the skin was stripped off the blubber using winches, with flensers using sharp knives to help. Blubber and meat were stripped from the carcass and cut into pieces to be put in a pot to be boiled down. Even the whale bones were sawed and cut down for use. It was a smelly and bloody job.