South Sea Whalers Boiling Blubber, by Sir Oswald Brierly, circa 1876. State Library of New South Wales.
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 Sperm oil has since been replaced by the cheaper kerosene-based products, but another unusual product, ambergris, is still valued as a perfume fixative.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.
Spermwhaling is the human practice of hunting sperm whales, the largest toothed whale and the deepest-diving marine mammal species, for the oil, meat...
flotsam. Spermwhaling was a major industry in the 19th century, depicted in the novel Moby-Dick. The species is protected by the International Whaling Commission...
international ban on whaling, sperm oil is no longer legally sold. The oil from bottlenose whales was sometimes called "Arctic sperm oil." It was cheaper...
Falsifications in Whaling" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-16. Whitehead, H. (2003). "Ghosts of Whaling Past". Sperm Whales...
Southeast Asian countries. In 1985, the International Whaling Commission ended spermwhaling. The pygmy sperm whale is covered by the Agreement on the Conservation...
Commercial whaling in the United States dates to the 17th century in New England. The industry peaked in 1846–1852, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, sent...
Japanese whaling, in terms of active hunting of whales, is estimated by the Japan Whaling Association to have begun around the 12th century. However, Japanese...
the early years were right and sperm whales. Humpback, bowhead and other whale species would later be taken. Whaling went on to be a major maritime industry...
whaling from prehistoric times up to the commencement of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. Whaling...
off the Antarctic. The sperm whale, the southern right whale and humpback whale were the main target species in South Sea whaling. The industry went on...
bones or cartilage. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth of sperm whales, the baleen of other whales, and the tusks of walruses. It takes...
The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is an international environmental agreement aimed at the "proper conservation of whale stocks...
candles, and lubricants – providing the economic basis for the spermwhaling industry. A sperm whale may contain as much as 1,900 liters of this oil. While...
tryworks. Spermaceti was especially valuable, and as spermwhaling voyages were several years long, the whaling ships were equipped for all eventualities. There...
McClure's, and Success. Ashley had both a knowledge of and interest in spermwhaling due to his upbringing in New Bedford. In 1904 he was commissioned by...
ointments. The whaling industry in the 17th and 18th centuries was developed to find, harvest, and refine the contents of the head of a sperm whale. The crews...
The first full whaling season began in 1933, and the first whale killed, a sperm whale, was taken on May 28, 1933. Most of the whaling in the pre-war...
Aboriginal whaling or indigenous whaling is the hunting of whales by indigenous peoples recognised by either IWC (International Whaling Commission) or...
little demand for whale meat, compared to farmed livestock. Commercial whaling, which has faced opposition for decades, continues today in very few countries...
those currently regulated by the International Whaling Commission: the Odontoceti family Physeteridae (sperm whales); and the Mysticeti families Balaenidae...
conservation of whales. Prior to the setting up of the IWC in 1946, unregulated whaling had depleted a number of whale populations to a significant extent, and...
New Bedford Whaling Museum (October, 2008). "Sperm Whale". New Bedford Whaling Museum. Retrieved January 2, 2017. "Reyna". New Bedford Whaling Museum. Retrieved...
reports of modern sperm whales attacking whaling vessels by ramming into them, and the organ is disproportionally larger in male modern sperm whales. An alternate...
expansion of the spermwhaling trade off the Cape of Good Hope around 1800. Christian Salvesen & Company of Leith, which held more whaling shares than any...
catches the International Whaling Commission ended whaling of humpbacks from Antarctic stocks so the company commenced hunting sperm whales instead. The enterprise...
International Whaling Commission: the Odontoceti families Physeteridae (sperm whales), Ziphiidae (beaked whales), and Kogiidae (pygmy and dwarf sperm whales);...
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