Did someone notice the fluid from their heads and think it was semen?
I believe they were originally hunted for their spermaceti, which is contained in the head cavity. I’m guessing that spermaceti was named for the reason you suggested.
**jjimm ** has hit the nail on the head.
I recently the story of the Essex, a Nantucket whaling ship rammed and sunk by a sperm whale. You can probably guess which book is based on this incident. There is a fairly extensive discussion of whaling throughout the book. It turns out that the spermaceti first comes out clear and only congeals on contact with the air. After it turns, so to speak, it looks like the substance in question. Mmmm. A whaler’s deck looking like the money shot from God’s own porno.
As an aside, the most valuable thing the whaler’s sought from a sperm whale was ambergris. Though not found in every whale it would be clump of waxy substance found in the intestines. Imagine the fun of searching through the entire GI tract of a thrity ton animal. Of course it was worth much more than its weight in gold, so looked they did. Used in perfume making, IIRC.
OED seems to think it was an error in assessing the nature of the substance.
“like the money shot from God’s own porno”
Which gives a whole new meaning to the Second Coming, no?
2nd grade boys have to have something to giggle about in science class.
Well, the ambergris wasn’t that hard to find because it stinks to high heaven.
Seriously, I read about an entire whaling ship that had a bout of mass vomiting because of the stench of all the ambergris they had on board.
It’s supposed to stink worse then a skunk’s spray does.
“Did someone notice the fluid from their heads and think it was semen?”
Fish names are really easy. The Gray whale is gray, a blue jelly is blue & a sperm whale, as you noticed, appeared ‘spermy’…me thinks the brightest minds weren’t used to name animals but they do the trick.
Sperm whale for a name sucks because it changes when you put it in another language, so lucky for the sperm whale they have a latin name too, Physeter Macrocefalus which has changed to Pyseter Catodon.
IIRC, ambergris is the equivalent of a “gut-pearl” (forgive the imagery) in a whale’s gut - it forms around the remains of squids - the beaks and other dangerous parts. Ambergris was valued in perfume for its ability to strengthen and extend the scent of subtle flowers, etc. So Payton’s Servant - it may stink in its natural state, but the scent must be removed when it was used to fortify perfumes…
Please, God, please, dont’ let me come back as an eighteenth century whaler:
“Hey! Bob’s vomiting! Let’s go see if he found some ambergris!”
The ambergris smells awful when inside the whale. When it hits air however, it starts to smell good. The warmer it gets, the better it smells.
I hope I’m not committing some kind of faux pas by continuing the highjack. However on the subject of ambergris: It’s real value to a perfumer is attained only after the whale has garked it back up and it has floated on the ocean for about ten years. It takes on it’s desirable oderiferous qualities through photochemistry. Rarity wise, you can imagine how hard it is to find a whale in the ocean, imagine trying to find a rancid ball of whale vomitus the size of a basketball.
the word “sperma” translates to seed not semen.
spermaceti is essentially “seed from a whale”.
Sperm whales form a large “seed” in the head where oils accumulate. This is what is referred to. I know this has been pointed out but not to where it is clear that the term “sperm” had nothing really to do with any thought of reproduction. It simply designated the large cache of these oils. The oil is liquid when the animal is alive but will form into a fairly hard waxy ball shortly after the animal dies.
Thanks for clearing up the ambergris thing - for years I thought it was the smegma of a whale. Think not only of the whalers having to de-cheese a whales foreskin but of all the woman slathering it on there faces!? I suppose it would make persuading her to swallow easier.
…
"Oh, yes, there is still SO much that I need to learn about. Like this huge lump on my head. It certainly seems to be collecting a lot of oils. I think I shall call it a zit. No, no, that’s much too vulgar. I’ll find a proper name for it when I know what it’s for.
"And look, there are a great number of very small animals coming toward me in … well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before! Hmmm. They float, and there are a bunch of animals on it, let’s call them boats. Yes. But they’re very long… there might be shorter boats so I’ll call these Longboats. Oh, excellent!
"I wonder, what can they want? They seem to be very excited about it. This is splendid! I haven’t had company for days!
"Look now, they’ve thrown something at me! They want to play catch! Wonderful! I shall have to try my best to catch this thing.
"It seems to be very long, and pointy… and sharp. Very sharp! I do hope I can catch it, I’ve never played this game.
“I wonder if they will be friends with me after we finish the game.”
… (Expletives deleted) …
[“At least it popped that damned zit on my forehead!”]
Sorry for the hijack, folks.
:dubious:
I get it! Nice pastiche, The MacDairmuid.
Hey, The MacDairmuid! Watch out for the petunias!
snickers HHGTTG references are worth their weight in ambergris, imho. 