Sperm oil
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Sperm oil is a waxy liquid obtained from sperm whales. It is a clear, yellowish liquid with a very faint odor. One of its fractions is spermaceti, a highly prized type of wax. Sperm oil has a differen
US consumption of sperm oil peaked in the mid-19th century, then saw a precipitous decline.
A spermaceti press
Strained sperm oil being bottled
A spermaceti wax candle
Sperm whaling
Videos
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
South Sea Whalers Boiling Blubber, by Sir Oswald Brierly, circa 1876. State Library of New South Wales.
Sperm whaling
An 1861 cartoon showing sperm whales celebrating the discovery of new petroleum wells in Pennsylvania. The proliferation of mineral oils reduced demand for their species' oil.
Whalers flensing blubber from a sperm whale.