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Concept
Sperm whaling
Summary
Sperm whaling is the human practice of hunting sperm whales, the largest toothed whale and the deepest-diving marine mammal species, for the oil, meat and bone that can be extracted from the cetaceans' bodies.
Sperm whales are prized for the sperm oil, a waxy secretion that was especially popular as a lubricant and illuminant during the Industrial Revolution, and so they were heavily targeted in 19th-century commercial whaling, as exemplified in Moby Dick. Sperm oil has since been replaced by the cheaper kerosene-based products, but another unusual product, ambergris, is still valued as a perfume fixative. Although the animal is classified as a vulnerable species and commercial whaling has been banned since the 1970s, aboriginal whaling in limited numbers is still permitted for subsistence, notably from two villages in Indonesia.
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. This was the whale oil, stored in casks for the long journey home. It was sold as a lamp fuel, not a food product; the whale meat was discarded. The other species that were within reach during the Age of Sail were filter-feeders, and their baleen had many commercial uses. The sperm whale, being a toothed hunter, lacked this so-called whalebone, but it did produce a valuable commodity: sperm oil.
Each whale's head held up to a ton, in a cavity called the "case". It was part of a waxy liquid called spermaceti, from which the whale got its common name. The liquid was removed from the spermaceti organ at sea, and stored separately from the rendered whale oil for processing back in port. On return home, this headmatter, which was worth around 20% more than the oil from the blubber, was divided into two valuable commodities. One was a very pure type of sperm whale oil that required little or no additional processing.
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