Colonel Paul’s Corner – Whales

Genesis says that on the 5th day, God created the whale. Unfortunately for the whale, on the 6th day God created man. The whale with his 20 lb brain proved no match for man with his 3 lb brain. But then, man proved no match for woman with her 2 3/4 lb brain. Today’s blue whale is the largest creature to ever exist on our planet. Much bigger than the largest dinosaur. The Bowhead whale is the longest living mammal at 200 years.

Humans decided that whales were pretty tasty and started eating them as early as 6000 BC, as depicted in a South Korean petroglyph. Solid evidence of whaling in Europe goes back to 3000 BC. Whales were harvested from shallow coastal seas for subsistence until around the 11th century, when the Basque people of Southwestern Europe started the first commercial whaling.

When man began to build machines, the whale was doomed, as his oil was needed to lubricate the parts and also provide the highest quality lamp oil. Great fleets of sturdy ships began to hunt whales in all of the earth’s seas. Whaling stations were established on six continents to replenish supplies and process whale oil. Later, the whale oil was processed on-board making the process more efficient.

The American whaling industry dates back to the 1700s. New Bedford, Massachusetts, became the world’s largest and most profitable whaling capital, growing from 10 vessels in 1815 to 329 in 1857. Whaling was a dangerous business, with ships regularly lost to rough seas. During one five year period, 45 ships were lost, including 30 from New Bedford. Quaker owners dominated the industry and became wealthy. They decreed that a ship not return until it had a full cargo of oil. The lucky returned in 6 months, with some voyages lasting four years.

Whales were not brought on board. They were hauled alongside the ship, where sailors used long lances to strip blubber from the carcass. The strips were taken below deck to large pots over brick ovens, where they were boiled down to oil. Each ship carried a large store of firewood. The average whale produced 45 barrels of oil, with a few large sperm whales yielding 100 barrels. In today’s money, a barrel of oil was valued at $200 while a barrel of spermaceti, the finest oil from the head of a sperm whale, brought $1500. Occasionally, a quantity of “ambergris” was found in the intestines of sperm whales. It was an ingredient used in expensive perfumes and said to be worth its weight in gold. The largest ships brought back up to 2000 barrels of oil. The profits were shared on a percentage basis. The Captain often received one twelfth of the haul, with an ordinary seaman receiving one three hundredth of the profit.

The American whaling industry peaked in 1859. After that date, the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania and competition from more modern and efficient Norwegian whaling started a slow decline. Today, international treaties forbid whaling. Japan, Norway, and Iceland ignore the treaty and still harvest a small number of whales.

Herman Melville’s fictional novel, “Moby Dick”, is based on the true story of the whaling ship, Essex. Nathaniel Philbrick used survivors’ accounts to write the real story in his novel, “In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex”. Available at the Great Falls library.

By Paul Warrick: February 5, 2026 - Great Falls, Mt