Whaling has been a part of Norwegian coastal culture for centuries. The country's government currently allows 999 whales to be hunted for human consumption. This decision followed the ban on commercial whaling in 1986.
Norway's whaling season usually takes off in April and lasts until the end of August. It’s possible to try fresh whale meat in local restaurants that offer a variety of dishes from traditional soup to a fashionable wok.
In earlier times, whale hunting was primarily oriented to obtain fat that would then be melted into oil to produce varnish, paint, and soap. The whalebone (baleen) was also used in umbrellas and corsets. After the arrival at Spitsbergen, whalers used materials from the ship to construct a shore station where whales could be spotted from the shore. They were then chased and lanced from the bow of a shallop. The whale carcass was towed back to the shore station where whalers removed the blubber and boiled it down. Whale oil was then stored in wooden casks and loaded onto the anchored ship.
