whale oil

File:Natural whale oil bottle.jpg

Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word traan ("tear drop").

Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities of sperm whales, differs chemically from ordinary whale oil: it is composed mostly of liquid wax. Its properties and applications differ from those of detergentized whale oil, and it was sold for a higher price.

Source and use

Emerging industrial societies used whale oil in oil lamps and to make soap. In the 20th century it was made into margarine. There is a misconception that commercial development of the petroleum industry and vegetable oils saved whales from extinction.[https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/columns/2020/11/04/column-markets-and-consumers-not-president-control-oils-future/6136112002/ Column: Markets and consumers, not president, control oil's future] In fact, the development of petroleum accelerated the whaling industry,{{cite journal |last1=York |first1=Richard |title=Why Petroleum Did Not Save the Whales |journal=Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World |date=December 2017 |volume=3 |issue=1 |doi=10.1177/2378023117739217 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320648381_Why_Petroleum_Did_Not_Save_the_Whales |access-date=3 January 2025|doi-access=free }} which peaked in the 1960s.{{cite web |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |title=Global whaling peaked in the 1960s |url=https://ourworldindata.org/whaling |website=Our World in Data |access-date=3 January 2025}} 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 of blubber harvested from whales.{{cite book |first=Rodney |last=Barfield |year=1995 |title=Seasoned by Salt |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |page=64 |isbn=0-8078-2231-0 }} The removal is known as flensing and the boiling process was called trying 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 a furnace known as a trywork and the carcass was then discarded into the water.

Baleen whales were a major source of whale oil. Their oil is exclusively composed of triglycerides, whereas that of toothed whales contains wax esters.{{cite book |chapter=Spermaceti |first=Dale W. |last=Rice |title=Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals |edition=Second |year=2009 |pages=1098–1099 |isbn= 9780123735539 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-373553-9.00250-9 }} The bowhead whale and right whale were considered the ideal whaling targets. They are slow and docile, and they float when killed. They yield plenty of high-quality oil and baleen,{{cite book |first=Phil |last=Clapham |year=2004 |title=Right Whales: Natural History & Conservation |location=Stillwater, MN |publisher=Voyageur Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/rightwhalesnatur0000clap/page/8 8] |isbn=0-89658-657-X |url=https://archive.org/details/rightwhalesnatur0000clap/page/8 }} and as a result, they were hunted nearly to extinction.

Chemistry

File:Boiling blubber on a whaling ship.jpg

Whale oil has low viscosity (lower than olive oil), 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.{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Whale-oil|volume=28|pages=573–574}} It has a strong fishy odor. When hydrogenated, it turns solid and white and its taste and odor change.{{Cite book|last1=Tønnessen|first1=Johan Nicolay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-miE3r5DgPUC&pg=PA228|title=The History of Modern Whaling|last2=Johnsen|first2=Arne Odd|date=January 1, 1982|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-03973-5}}{{cite book|last=Webb|first=Robert Lloyd|title=On the Northwest: Commercial Whaling in the Pacific Northwest, 1790-1967|page=144|publisher=University of British Columbia Press|chapter=5. Warring On Whales|date=November 1, 2011|isbn=9780774843157|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnIb2nsqjv0C&pg=PA144}} 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 of triglycerides{{cite book|last=Chakrabarty|first=Moninder Mohan|title=Chemistry And Technology Of Oils And Fats|page=183|isbn=9788177644951|publisher=Allied Publishers|date=November 9, 2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIq9UBNQOskC&pg=PA183}} (molecules of fatty acids attached to a glycerol molecule). Oil sourced from toothed whales, especially the oil of sperm whales, contains a substantial amount of wax esters. Most of the fatty acids are unsaturated. The most common fatty acids are oleic acid and its isomers (18:1 carbon chains).{{cite journal |first=Nestor R. |last=Bottino |year=1971 |title=The composition of marine-oil triglycerides as determined by silver ion-thin-layer chromatography |journal=Journal of Lipid Research |volume=12 |issue= 1|pages=24–30 |doi=10.1016/S0022-2275(20)39542-0 |pmid=5542701 |url=http://www.jlr.org/content/12/1/24.abstract |doi-access=free }} Whale oil is exceptionally stable.{{cite web|title=Reinventing the Whale|url=http://www.wdcs.org/submissions_bin/trade_report_201006.pdf|publisher=WDCS: Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society|access-date=October 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601101102/http://www.wdcs.org/submissions_bin/trade_report_201006.pdf|archive-date=June 1, 2013|date=May 2010}}

class="wikitable" style="float: left;" \|+ Physical properties of whale oils
Specific gravity	0.920 to 0.931 at {{convert\|15.6\|C}}{{cite book\|last=Dieterichs\|first=Emil F.\|title=A practical treatise on friction, lubrication, fats and oils, including the manufacture of lubricating oils, leather oils, paint oils, solid lubricants and greases, modes of testing oils, and the application of lubricants\|page=23\|chapter=Whale and Train Oils\|publisher=Henry Carey Baird\|date=1916\|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/practicaltreatis00dietuoft/page/22/mode/2up \|url=https://archive.org/details/practicaltreatis00dietuoft/page/n5/mode/2up}}
Flash point	{{convert\|230\|C}}{{cite book\|last=Sims\|first=Frank\|title=Engineering Formulas Interactive: Conversions, Definitions, and Tables\|page=132\|publisher=Industrial Press\|date=1999\|isbn=9780831130879\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBm0kUqW4rcC&pg=PA132}}
Saponification value	185–202
Unsaponifiable matter	0–2%
Refractive index	1.4760 at {{convert\|15\|C}}{{cite book\|last=Kanthack\|first=R.\|editor-last=Goldsmith\|editor-first=John Naish\|title=Tables of refractive indices\|page=259\|publisher=A. Hilger, limited\|chapter=Refractive Indices of Oils, Fats and Waxes\|date=1918–1921\|volume=II\|chapter-url=https://www.archive.org/stream/tablesofrefracti00goldrich#page/n261/mode/2up \|url=https://archive.org/details/tablesofrefracti00goldrich/page/n3/mode/2up}}
Iodine value (Wijs)	110–135
Viscosity	35–39.6 cSt at {{convert\|37.8\|C}}{{cite web\|url=http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/kinematic-viscosity-d_397.html\|title=Liquids – Kinematic Viscosities\|website=www.engineeringtoolbox.com}}

Applications

File:US Whale Oil and Sperm Oil Imports (1805-1905).jpg

File:FourHuileBaleineTrankessel.JPGs in Ilulissat, Greenland]]

The main use of whale oil was for illumination and machine lubrication.{{Cite web|title=Whale Oil|url=http://www.petroleumhistory.org/OilHistory/pages/Whale/whale.html|access-date=March 27, 2021| website=www.petroleumhistory.org}} 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 the Industrial Revolution, in the United States, in Britain, and continental Europe.

In the United States, as demand for whale oil increased at the end of the 18th century, the whaling industry expanded until its peak around the 1860s, when piped coal-gas networks began to provide an alternative lighting fuel in urban areas.{{Cite web |last=Wells |first=Bruce |date=2024-02-02 |title=Illuminating Gaslight |url=https://aoghs.org/technology/manufactured-gas/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=American Oil & Gas Historical Society |language=en-US}}{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} Due to dwindling whale populations causing higher voyage costs, as well as taxation, the market changed rapidly in the 1860s after the discovery of mineral oils and expansion of chemical refineries to produce kerosene and lubricants. By 1870, kerosene became the dominant illumination fuel and the US whaling industry was in decline.{{Cite web|title=Understanding the Whale Oil Myth and the Rise of Petroleum|url=https://petroleumservicecompany.com/blog/the-whale-oil-myth-and-the-rise-of-petroleum/|access-date=March 27, 2021|website=Petroleum Service Company|language=en}}

Steam power allowed the acceleration of whaling in the 1900s, with the United Kingdom and then Norway becoming the dominant whaling nations.{{cite web |last1=Beyer |first1=Greg |title=Blubber & Oil: Whaling and Its Role in the Industrial Revolution |url=https://www.thecollector.com/hunting-whales-whaling-in-the-industrial-revolution/ |website=The Collector |access-date=5 January 2025 |date=February 2023}}

In 1986, the International Whaling Commission declared a moratorium on commercial whaling, which has all but eliminated the use of whale oil today. Aboriginal whaling, part of the subsistence economy, is still permitted. Groups such as the Inuit of North America are granted special whaling rights, integral to their culture, and they still use whale oil as a food and as lamp oil in the ceremonial qulliq.{{cite web|url=https://uasausoap.com/pages/bowhead-whale |title=The Bowhead Whale – An Inuit Tradition|access-date=October 30, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/inuit |title=Inuit and Marine Mammals|access-date=October 30, 2021}} A small amount of commercial whaling still occurs.{{cite web |title=Commercial Whaling |url=https://iwc.int/commercial |website=International Whaling Commission |access-date=5 January 2025}}

Whale oil was used as a cheap illuminant, though it gave off a strong odor when burnt and was not very popular.{{cite book|last=Heflin|first=Wilson|title=Herman Melville's Whaling Years|page=232|publisher=Vanderbilt University Press|date=April 12, 2004|isbn=9780826591449|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L3HOpg4UamUC&pg=PA232}} It was replaced in the late 19th century by cheaper, more efficient, and longer-lasting kerosene.{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/how-capitalism-saved-the-whales/|title=Thefreemanonline.org|website=www.thefreemanonline.org|date=January 5, 2020}} Burning fluid and camphine were the dominant replacements for whale oil until the arrival of kerosene.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/this-post-is-hopelessly-long-w|title=The "Whale Oil Myth"|website=PBS NewsHour|date=August 20, 2008}}

In the United Kingdom, whale oil was used in toolmaking machinery as a high-quality lubricant.Norman Atkinson, Sir Joseph Whitworth (Sutton Publishing 1996), p161.

After the invention of hydrogenation in the early 20th century, whale oil was used to make margarine, a practice that has since been discontinued. Whale oil in margarine has been replaced by vegetable oil.{{cite web|author=Gorman|first=Martyn|date=2002|title=Whale oil and margarine|url=http://www.scran.ac.uk/packs/exhibitions/learning_materials/webs/40/margarine.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220115820/http://www.scran.ac.uk/packs/exhibitions/learning_materials/webs/40/margarine.htm|archive-date=February 20, 2020|website=Scran|publisher=Historic Environment Scotland}}

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.

Whale oil was widely used in the First World War as a preventive measure against trench foot. An infantry battalion of the British Army during World War I on the Western Front could be expected to use {{convert|10|impgal|abbr=on}} of whale oil a day. The oil was rubbed directly onto bare feet in order to protect them from the effects of immersion.{{cite web|url=http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWfoot.htm|title=Trench Foot|website=spartacus-educational.com}}

Gallery

File:Stripping blubber from a whale.jpg|Whalers stripping blubber from a whale

File:Whaling Trypot (Blubber Pot), Simon's Town SA.jpg|Try pot or Blubber Pot seen in Simon's Town in South Africa

File:New Zealand whalers cutting up whale blubber.jpg|Māori people cutting up the blubber of beached pilot whales (Te Arai, New Zealand, 1911)

File:New Zealand whalers boiling whale blubber.jpg|Men boiling the blubber of a beached blackfish at Tokerau Beach. (New Zealand, 1911)

File:Qulliq 1999-04-01.jpg|An Inuk woman tending a qulliq, a traditional whale, or seal, oil lamp (Nunavut, Canada, 1999)

File:Tranoljelampa, Lyse socken, Bohuslän, 1800-tal.JPG|Whale oil lamp in brown-glazed earthenware with candle bowl for the wick and base drip pan. Lyse parish, Bohuslän – now in the Nordic Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

Literature

The pursuit and use of whale oil, along with many other aspects of whaling, are discussed in Herman 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".{{cite web|url=https://mashable.com/article/wellerman-sea-shanty-history |title=The harsh history behind the internet's favorite sea shanty|website=Mashable|access-date=October 30, 2021|date=January 20, 2021|url-status=live|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120103826/https://mashable.com/article/wellerman-sea-shanty-history/}}{{cite web|url=https://blog.underoverarch.co.nz/2017/09/the-spoils-of-oils/ |title=The spoils of oils|access-date=October 30, 2021|date=September 15, 2017|url-status=live|archive-date=September 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927071020/https://blog.underoverarch.co.nz/2017/09/the-spoils-of-oils/}} The quote is:

{{Blockquote|In merchantmen, oil for the sailor is more scarce than the milk of queens.|Herman Melville|Moby-Dick{{cite book|last=Melville|first=Herman|author-link=Herman Melville|title=Moby-Dick|date=1851|chapter=Chapter 97. The Lamp.|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm}}}}

According to the rest of the paragraph, sailors onboard the merchantman had to sleep, dress, and maneuver below decks in the dark as opposed to the whalers who used the oil for light.

John R. Jewitt, an Englishman who wrote a memoir about his years as a captive of the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), an Indigenous Pacific Northwest people on the British Columbia Coast, from 1802 to 1805, claimed whale oil was a condiment with every dish, even strawberries.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

In Robert Browning's Pied Piper (§ VII), the Piper's piping leads the rats to imagine the sound of "breaking the hoops of train-oil flasks".

Friedrich Ratzel in The History of Mankind (1896), when discussing food materials in Oceania, quoted Captain James Cook's comment in relation to the Māori 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."{{cite web|last1=Friedrich|first1=Ratzel|title=The Races of Oceania – Labour, Dwellings and Food in Oceania – Similarities and coincidences in labour and implements of labour, Food|url=http://www.inquirewithin.biz/history/american_pacific/oceania/oceania-food.htm|website=inquirewithin.biz|access-date=10 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430110931/http://www.inquirewithin.biz/history/american_pacific/oceania/oceania-food.htm|archive-date=April 30, 2012}}

References

{{reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite news

| url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-cautionary-tale-of-whale-oil/

| title = The cautionary tale of whale oil

| work = The Globe and Mail

| author = Ed Butts

| date = October 4, 2019

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191006064852/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-cautionary-tale-of-whale-oil/

| archive-date = October 6, 2019

| access-date =October 7, 2019

| url-status = live

| quote = 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.

}}