Walvis in Zicht plot
In 1946, the Dutch government commissioned a documentary film about Dutch whaling in the South Pole. On October 27 of that year, the mooring lines were released from the ship Willem Barendz. Whaling and the processing of the mammals into tears were filmed on the ship. Four months later, the vessel returned with 13,000 tons of tear oil. The expedition to the South Pole became the symbol of the Dutch reconstruction after the war, not only was it the first major expedition the Netherlands undertook after the war. It was also the intention to give a beneficial impulse to public health with the healthy tear that was extracted from the bacon of the whales.