I always assumed that, being on the homeward passage and shortly to sign off, no-one cared too much about losing the little stuns'ls, they just wanted to get home. Whalermen only did 'real' sailing work on the journeys out and home, the rest of the time being spent in rowing and butchery work. If the gear got damaged on the journey out to the whaling grounds, someone would have to fix it for the trip home, but damage on the way back would be seen as the next crew's problem. I imagine some skippers would have different views on that!

Combined with the slightly affected wording of 'what care we for that sound' as noted above, perhaps this suggests the song wasn't written by a real sailor, but by someone of a more literary persuasion with a romantic, if fairly well informed, view of the whole business.

Guesswork is cheap - Guinness costs money

Andrew