A crew harpoons a whale, but another ship collects the whale before the harpooning crew can reach the body. Who "owns" the whale? Would your answer change if you found out that the whale was a blue whale? This species of whale is particularly resilient to stabs by harpoons and often can escape in a matter of minutes. What if the whale was a sperm whale? This species of whale is difficult to harpoon due to the depth at which it typically resides, but is susceptible to harpooning injuries and thus rarely escapes.