Simulations of the effect of currently used grenade harpoons for the killing of whales using a pig-model.

ABSTRACT

Physical model experiments, as well as simulations of the effects of grenade harpooning on anaesthetized pigs fully immersed in water suggest that the shock effect of the blast from the currently used grenades is relatively minor. Also the animals are not stunned to death, but loose consciousness and subsequently die from hemorrhage. Survival time is therefore very short if the animals are hit in the thorax, and is likely to be further reduced if the charge which is currently used is increased, or, even better, if shrapnel (fragment scattering) grenades are used instead of blast grenades.