Whale oil
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Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. It was at one point an important fuel for illumination, as well as machine lubrication and other uses. Despite the increased availability of petro
Whalers boiling blubber on the deck of their ship (1874 illustration)
United States whale oil and sperm oil imports in the 19th century
A bottle of whale oil
Whalers stripping blubber from a whale
Flensing
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Flensing is the removing of the blubber or outer integument of whales, separating it from the animal's meat. Processing the blubber into whale oil was the key step that transformed a whale carcass int
Whale oil
…whaling its use has almost entirely ceased today. Whale oil was obtained by boiling strips of blubber harvested from whales. 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…
Flensing at Whalers Bay, Deception Island
"Smeerenburg". A whale (left foreground) is being flensed. Painting by Cornelis de Man (1639).
Flensing at the Tyee Company whaling station at Murder Cove, Alaska
Mincing blubber