{{no footnotes, date=February 2014
The one-flue harpoon or one-flue iron (sometimes "single" instead of "one" is used) is a type of
harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, seal hunting, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the t ...
used in
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industry ...
after its introduction in the early 19th century when it replaced the
two-flue harpoon
The two-flue harpoon or two-flue iron (which, together with the one-flue harpoon, were known as common harpoons) is a type of harpoon used in whaling for at least 1000 years. It appears in works of art dating back to the 14th century.
In the earl ...
. Due to the asymmetric design of the head for which it is named, the one-flue harpoon was less likely to cut its way out of the
whale meat
Whale meat, broadly speaking, may include all cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) and all parts of the animal: muscle (meat), organs (offal), skin (muktuk), and fat (blubber). There is relatively little demand for whale meat, compared to ...
and
blubber
Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians.
Description
Lipid-rich, collagen fiber-laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except for pa ...
, and was therefore more successful in whaling.
In the mid-19th century the one flue harpoon was replaced by the
toggling harpoon
The toggling harpoon is an ancient weapon and tool used in whaling to impale a whale when thrown. Unlike earlier harpoon versions which had only one point, a toggling harpoon has a two-part point. One half of the point is firmly attached to the ...
, which was an iron version of the ancient design used in the
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
by the native whale hunters there. The toggling iron harpoon was even more successful and rapidly phased out the use of the "common harpoon" (a term which refers to either the one or two flue harpoon).