Whale oil isoil obtained from theblubber ofwhales.[1] Oil from thebowhead whale was sometimes known astrain-oil, which comes from the Dutch wordtraan ("tear drop").
Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities ofsperm whales, differs chemically from ordinary whale oil: it is composed mostly of liquidwax. Its properties and applications differ from those of detergentized whale oil, and it was sold for a higher price.
Emerging industrial societies used whale oil inoil lamps and tomake soap. In the 20th century it was made intomargarine. There is a misconception that commercial development of thepetroleum industry andvegetable oils saved whales fromextinction.[2] In fact, the development of petroleum accelerated the whaling industry,[3] which peaked in the 1960s.[4] In the 21st century, with most countries having banned whaling, the sale and use of whale oil has practically ceased.
Whale oil was obtained by boiling strips ofblubber harvested from whales.[5] The removal is known asflensing and the boiling process was calledtrying out. The boiling was carried out on land in the case of whales caught close to shore or beached. On longer deep-sea whaling expeditions, the trying-out was done aboard the ship in afurnace known as atrywork and thecarcass was then discarded into the water.
Baleen whales were a major source of whale oil. Their oil is exclusively composed oftriglycerides, whereas that oftoothed whales containswax esters.[6] Thebowhead whale andright whale were considered the ideal whaling targets. They are slow and docile, and they float when killed. They yield plenty of high-quality oil andbaleen,[7] and as a result, they were hunted nearly to extinction.
Whale oil has lowviscosity (lower thanolive oil),[8] is clear, and varies in color from a bright honey yellow to a dark brown, according to the condition of the blubber from which it has been extracted and the refinement through which it went.[9] It has a strongfishy odor. Whenhydrogenated, it turns solid and white and its taste and odor change.[10][11] Its composition varies with the species from which it was sourced and the method by which it was harvested and processed. It is composed mainly oftriglycerides[12] (molecules offatty acids attached to aglycerol molecule). Oil sourced from toothed whales, especially theoil of sperm whales, contains a substantial amount of waxesters.[6] Most of the fatty acids are unsaturated. The most common fatty acids areoleic acid and its isomers (18:1 carbon chains).[13] Whale oil is exceptionally stable.[14]
| Specific gravity | 0.920 to 0.931 at 15.6 °C (60.1 °F)[15] |
| Flash point | 230 °C (446 °F)[16] |
| Saponification value | 185–202[12] |
| Unsaponifiable matter | 0–2%[12] |
| Refractive index | 1.4760 at 15 °C (59 °F)[17] |
| Iodine value (Wijs) | 110–135[12] |
| Viscosity | 35–39.6 cSt at 37.8 °C (100.0 °F)[8] |
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The main use of whale oil was forillumination and machinelubrication.[18] Cheaper alternatives to whale oil existed, but were inferior in performance and cleanliness of burn. As a result, whale oil dominated the world for both uses. This in turn further fueled theIndustrial Revolution, inthe United States, inBritain, andcontinental Europe.
In the United States, as demand for whale oil increased at the end of the 18th century, thewhaling industry expanded until its peak around the 1860s,[4] when piped coal-gas networks began to provide an alternative lighting fuel in urban areas.[19][citation needed] Due to dwindling whale populations causing higher voyage costs, as well astaxation, the market changed rapidly in the 1860s after the discovery ofmineral oils and expansion ofchemical refineries to producekerosene andlubricants. By 1870, kerosene became the dominant illumination fuel and the US whaling industry was in decline.[20]
Steam power allowed the acceleration of whaling in the 1900s, with the United Kingdom and then Norway becoming the dominant whaling nations.[21]
In 1986, theInternational Whaling Commission declared amoratorium oncommercial whaling, which has all but eliminated the use of whale oil today.Aboriginal whaling, part of thesubsistence economy, is still permitted. Groups such as theInuit of North America are granted special whaling rights, integral totheir culture, and they still use whale oil as a food and as lamp oil in the ceremonialqulliq.[22][23] A small amount of commercial whaling still occurs.[24]
Whale oil was used as a cheap illuminant, though it gave off a strong odor when burnt and was not very popular.[25] It was replaced in the late 19th century by cheaper, moreefficient, and longer-lastingkerosene.[26] Burning fluid andcamphine were the dominant replacements for whale oil until the arrival of kerosene.[27]
In the United Kingdom, whale oil was used in toolmaking machinery as a high-quality lubricant.[28]
After the invention ofhydrogenation in the early 20th century, whale oil was used to make margarine,[10] a practice that has since been discontinued. Whale oil in margarine has been replaced byvegetable oil.[29]
Whale oil was used to make soap. Until the invention of hydrogenation, it was used only in industrial-grade cleansers, because its foul smell and tendency to discolor made it unsuitable for cosmetic soap.[11]
Whale oil was widely used in theFirst World War as apreventive measure againsttrench foot. An infantry battalion of theBritish Army during World War I on theWestern Front could be expected to use 10 imp gal (45 L; 12 US gal) of whale oil a day. The oil was rubbed directly onto bare feet in order to protect them from the effects of immersion.[30]
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The pursuit and use of whale oil, along with many otheraspects of whaling, are discussed inHerman Melville's 1851 novel,Moby-Dick. The novel's narrator is sometimes misquoted as saying that whale oil is "as rare as the milk of queens".[31][32] The quote is:
In merchantmen, oil for the sailor is more scarce than the milk of queens.
According to the rest of the paragraph, sailors onboard themerchantman had to sleep, dress, and maneuver below decks in the dark as opposed to the whalers who used the oil for light.[33]
John R. Jewitt, an Englishman who wrote a memoir about his years as a captive of theNuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), anIndigenous Pacific Northwest people on theBritish Columbia Coast, from 1802 to 1805, claimed whale oil was a condiment with every dish, even strawberries.[citation needed]
In Robert Browning'sPied Piper (§ VII), the Piper's piping leads the rats to imagine the sound of "breaking the hoops of train-oil flasks".
Friedrich Ratzel inThe History of Mankind (1896), when discussing food materials inOceania, quoted CaptainJames Cook's comment in relation to theMāori people: "No Greenlander was ever so sharp set upon train-oil as our friends here, they greedily swallowed the stinking droppings when we were boiling down the fat of dog-fish."[34]
Then in 1846, a Nova Scotian physician and geologist named Abraham Gesner invented kerosene. This pioneering form of fossil fuel, which some called coal oil, burned cleaner and brighter than whale oil, and didn't have a pungent odour.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Whale-oil".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 573–574.
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