Whale oil: the black gold before oil! 🐋

I never imagined that before discovering oil, the world operated thanks to those enormous marine creatures! When I delved into this topic, I was astonished by the cruelty with which we exploit these majestic animals.

My discovery about the dark past of whale oil

The other day I was browsing through a history book and came across something shocking: from the 16th century to the early 20th, we were mass killing whales to extract their fat. What a barbarity! They mainly extracted this "gold" from the sperm whale and baleen whales.

Imagine this: while we complain today when the price of fuel goes up, our ancestors lit their homes by burning whale fat. It gives me chills to think about it. The so-called "train oil" from baleen whales was very cheap and reliable before kerosene came along.

The industry that stained the seas with blood

By the 17th century, this oil was already essential for making soap. European whaling fleets devastated entire populations of whales! Just so that people could wash their hands and have light. Is such a massacre worth it for convenience?

When the Industrial Revolution arrived, the situation worsened dramatically. Sperm whale spermaceti became the preferred lubricant for industrial machines. Factories devoured it while whale populations plummeted. It was also used for textiles, leather, and even to make "cleaner" candles - what an irony to talk about cleanliness when we were polluting the oceans!

From lamp fuel to war explosives

In the 20th century, it was no longer enough to light houses. Hardened oil became a key ingredient for margarines and soaps. And the worst part: it was essential for producing nitroglycerin during the world wars! We were killing whales in order to kill humans more efficiently. Liver oil served as a source of vitamin D before alternatives were found.

Finally, when oil and vegetable oils appeared, whale oil began to lose ground. But the damage was already done. It took decades and for whales to be on the brink of extinction for the International Whaling Commission to prohibit this barbarism in 1986.

The hypocrisy of our "civilization"

This dark chapter makes me question our supposed evolution as a society. We wildly exploit a natural resource until it is nearly exhausted, without thinking about the consequences. Are we not doing exactly the same today with oil and other resources?

Whale oil lit lamps and powered machines, but extinguished life in the oceans. Today, these creatures continue to struggle to recover while we move on with our new fuels. Have we really learned anything?