Talk:Sperm whaling

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External links modified[edit]

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I removed the graph with catch data. Following up the source, the creator seems to have have misplaced a decimal place. Catches peaks at about 20,000 whales a year, but the grap showed peak numbers of 250,000 whales a year! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.89.252.104 (talk) 07:36, 17 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified (January 2018)[edit]

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Please clarify[edit]

I don't want to change what I don't understand. The article states that the animal was especially valuable for its blubber. Is that the case? Is it so different from every other whale's blubber? I thought the main prize, and animal's unique product, was the spermaceti. (Leaving aside ambergris, which might or might not be present.) It needs to be clear what "sperm whale oil" refers to - rendered blubber, or head oil. Surely they can't both be sought after as a machine lubricant etc. Logically it seems likely to be one or the other. As you have access to source User:Histragic could you double check and write a clarification? Or anyone else. Thanks. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 14:11, 25 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I have expanded on the edit and, hopefully, addressed these issues. Essentially, sperm whale oil was more valuable because it had a greater range of uses.(Histragic (talk) 06:38, 26 May 2018 (UTC))[reply]

Thanks Histragic. I've amended the lead to provide a better overview. But I'm still unclear (and Wikipedia is unclear) on the central issue. Here is the confusing overlap, as our articles currently explain it:

1. Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. --- NB I haven't worked on that one. Don't you just love Wikipedia style. Wikipedia style is the style used by Wikipedia.

2. Sperm oil is a waxy liquid obtained from sperm whales. It is a clear, yellowish liquid with a very faint odor. Sperm oil has a different composition from common whale oil, obtained from rendered blubber. Although it is traditionally called an "oil", it is technically a liquid wax. -- The article makes clear that it comes from the head, not the blubber.

3. Spermaceti (from Greek sperma meaning "seed", and ceti, the genitive form of "whale") is a waxy substance found in the head cavities of the sperm whale (and, in smaller quantities, in the oils of other whales). Spermaceti is created in the spermaceti organ inside the whale's head. This organ may contain as much as 1,900 litres (500 US gal) of spermaceti.

I'm thinking that 2 & 3 might be better merged - but I prefer articles of about the length they are now. All these articles would benefit from a well-sourced quote of clarification. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 08:33, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Whale oil might be better defined as coming from the body of whales. Although most is in the blubber, it is also found in the rest of the body, including in the head, tounge and even in the bones. A sperm whale skeleton on display in an American whaling museum still drips oil a century after it went on display.

Sperm whale oil had qualities that made it sought after well into modern times. It was widely used in car transmissions in the US into the 1970s. NASA employed it in its Voyager space probes and also in the Hubble telescope as it was a highly viscous substance that would not freeze in sub-zero temperatures. I will add a few more sources to give the page additional ballast. More could be said about the special properties of sperm whale oil, but it would require someone with more of a science background than I have to do it justice.