Whale Hunting Was Absolutely Crazy

Video summary

Whale oil once earned $200,000 per sperm whale, fueled American industry, and drove blue whale populations down 98%.

Whaling began as coastal hunting and became a major European trade, with Basque crews targeting right whales for meat, baleen and oil. In colonial New England, declining right whale numbers pushed sailors offshore to hunt sperm whales, whose oil could be worth about $200,000 today. The dangerous work involved harpoon chases, deadly accidents and days of processing carcasses aboard ships. By 1853, American whalers killed more than 8,000 whales and produced 360,000 barrels of oil, while profits largely enriched owners and merchants. Petroleum and kerosene later displaced whale oil for lighting, but demand for its industrial lubricant persisted; steam-powered ships and explosive harpoons then made the slaughter far more efficient. In 1964, 82,000 whales were reported killed. Activist protests helped turn public opinion, leading to an international moratorium that took effect in 1986. Industrial whaling nearly erased blue whales, whose population fell by 98%.

Chapters

1. 0:00Ancient Sea Masters: Basque Watchtowers and North Atlantic Right Whales
2. 2:50Americans Hijack Whaling: 15,000 London Lamps and the Sperm Whale Prize
3. 5:04The Hunt: Nantucket Sleighrides and a Three-Meter Killing Lance
4. 7:46The Floating Factory: 45-Ton Carcasses, Deck Furnaces and Desertions
5. 9:34The Business of Blood: 8,000 Whales Killed in 1853 and New Bedford’s Rise
6. 11:11The Machine Age of Killing: Explosive Harpoons and 82,000 Whales in 1964
7. 13:20The War We Almost Won: Blue Whales Down 98% and the 1986 Moratorium