Ok, wow… “The fishermen who first discovered the poor stranded whale started the procedure by poking its eyes out, so that it would "not be able to see us." Over the next two days, the creature was methodically axed, speared and shot until it finally died in a sea of its own blood.”

I guess it was 1865.

I wonder if the event visible in one of the photos is etymological source of the word festival?

The word can be deconstructed in Swedish as fest i val which translates to "party in whale"