Sperm whale uses 1800s

Energy experts predict that the global production of oil will soon start to decline, what's referred to as peak oil. Now while we may not be there yet, there was a time in our history when we did reach a similar plateau, but it was a very different kind of energy source — one that could only be extracted from the heads of sperm whales. It was the intense demand for this sperm whale oil, what's called spermaceti, during the 18th and 19th centuries that nearly drove the whales into extinction. And it was only through the development of a rather modest technological innovation that the whales were saved at the last minute. The above image of a scene from Moby Dick was drawn by Paul Lasaine. Back at the start of the industrial age, whale oil was used for heating, lubrication, soap, candle wax, and the processing of textiles and rope.

Sperm whaling is the hunting of these marine mammals for the oil, meat and bone that can be extracted from their bodies. Sperm whales , a large and deep-diving species, produce a waxy substance that was especially useful during the Industrial Revolution , and so they were targeted in 19th-century whaling , as exemplified in Moby Dick. Sperm oil is no longer needed, but another unusual product, ambergris , is still valued as a perfume fixative. Although the animal is classified as a vulnerable species , aboriginal whaling in limited numbers is still permitted, notably from two villages in Indonesia, for subsistence. Sperm whales were hunted in the 19th century by American, British and other national whaling fleets. As with all the species targeted, the thick layer of fat blubber was flensed removed from the carcass and rendered, either on the whaling ship itself, or at a shore station.

Learn which whales were hunted and why; how they captured and processed them; how technology changed the industry. Whaling was an exceptionally dangerous business both physically and economically. In the Yankee whale fishery injuries and death were common to almost every voyage.

By Meghan E. Marrero and Stuart Thornton. Tuesday, November 1, People have been whaling for thousands of years.