Ahead spade is an instrument used inwhaling. Its name comes from being aspade specialized forcutting off the head awhale by chopping through thevertebrae at the base of theskull, though it is also used for cutting up other parts of the whale.
It is the heaviest spade used in the process of taking apart the whale. Its full length, including the pole, is approximately 1 metre or 3.5 feet.[1]
A head spade can be used for either thrusting (like aspear) or cutting (like anaxe).