Harpoon a reminder of whaling days

A harpoon found near Cheyne Beach two weeks ago is a sure remnant of Albany’s historic whaling industry.

The industry ended 40 years ago, making the harpoon found by Chris Trevenen at least as many years old.

Mr Trevenen and his cousin Rohan Trevenen were visiting on a fishing trip from Lake Grace when he noticed the strange object on the beach.

He said the sand on the beach had been washed out, making the harpoon visible.

“We came across the harpoon on the limestone rock, because there was no sand on the beach,” Mr Trevenen said. “We found it on the Saturday and we said that we should try to carry it back up, but it is a fair climb and we had all our fishing gear with us.

“So we went home, back to Lake Grace but it stayed in my mind and I realised that I can’t leave it to disappear again.

“So I grabbed my brother (Damian) and my cousin, and we went back there the following Wednesday with some rope.”

The harpoon weighs 60kg and it took an hour and a half to get it up off the beach.

After researching the find, Mr Trevenen said he believed it was a Norwegian explosive-head harpoon used for whaling.

“I want to find out more so anyone with information about them, I would love to get in contact,” he said. “I am trying to work out how it ended up on the beach because there were no whale bones around.

“If we would have been half a day later coming back to get it, it would have been gone because the sand had come back and an inch of it was sticking out.”