Eli5: how can a harpoon, like the one they used in Moby Dick, kill a huge animal like a whale?

Question

Wouldn’t that be just like a pin prick to a whale?

In: 2

Answer 1

Once the whale was harpooned to hold it at the surface, additional harpoons or spears were used to pierce the brain and later to set off small grenades near the brain. Even if this was not possible or was ineffectual, death would occur from some combination of stress, exhaustion, blood loss, and blunt trauma.