# Are whales ever hunted for blubber/oil any more?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whales-ever-hunted-for-blubber-oil-any-more/626119>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 24, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whales-ever-hunted-for-blubber-oil-any-more/626119 "2012-06-24T02:25:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whales-ever-hunted-for-blubber-oil-any-more/626119/1 "2012-06-24T02:25:53Z")

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The main purpose of the old whaling industry, as you can read about it in _Moby Dick,_ was to get whale blubber to render into lamp oil. Whale oil was better than any other illumination-fuel available at the time. It was rendered obsolete, and the industry mostly killed off, by the introduction of petroleum-derived kerosene, and gaslight, and, much later, electric light.

There is still some whaling, especially in Japan, but, as I understand it, nowadays the purpose is to get whale meat, not blubber. Does anybody anywhere hunt for blubber any more?

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whales-ever-hunted-for-blubber-oil-any-more/626119/2 "2012-06-24T03:41:00Z")

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The Inuit in Alaska still take whales every year. The blubber, or _muktuk_ is considered a treat. While the oil is typically not needed any longer, the traditions are kept alive. Of course, you’re probably asking about commercial enterprise.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whales-ever-hunted-for-blubber-oil-any-more/626119/3 "2012-06-24T07:35:56Z")

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According to [this](http://www.pureandgreenorganics.com.au/blog/?p=473) site (the reliability of which I cannot vouch for, although they cite [wdcs.org](http://wdcs.org)), whale oil is still in use for some cosmetics and pharmaceuticals

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-whales-ever-hunted-for-blubber-oil-any-more/626119/4 "2012-06-24T14:21:35Z")

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Old thread on NASA using whale oil:

> **[Does NASA use whale oil](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=569607)**
>
> So, I’m sitting here watching America: The Story of Us on the History Channel, and they’re describing how at the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution, whale oil was vitally important to the development of the IR because it extended working...

It apparently does have some efficacy as a specialty lubricant. If not currently being used for such purposes, it has been pretty recently.