Whale Oil

Author: Nora Lewis

Suggested Citation:

Lewis, N. (2026). Whale oil. Technology Assessment Project Case Study Library, University of Michigan. https://stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/tap-case-study-library/whale-oil

Whale Oil

Key Takeaways

• Market forces alone cannot spark energy transitions; often political and social change must accompany these overhauls.
• Expertise is often a prized global resource in and of itself, and may be gained by nations through political and economic power brokering.
• Public perceptions and activism can greatly shape energy policy and practices.

The History of Whale Oil

Whaling has been a global practice for thousands of years, stretching far and wide across various cultures and uses. Whale products have historically provided communities with food, tools, and oil necessary for survival, yet by the 17th century whaling began to morph into a profitable industry (New Bedford Whaling Museum, n.d.). Centered predominantly in the mid-Atlantic and New England American colonies, whaling was a prosperous form of income for colonial sailors. Quakers living on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket in particular practiced whaling across generations, giving way to a community with unmatched expertise (New Bedford Whaling Museum, n.d.).

In this booming colonial whaling business, oil extracted from the blubber of whales (or in the case of sperm whales, a cavity located in their heads) proved most valuable. Whale oil was used for powering lamps and candles with unmatched luminosity, as well as the production of many soaps, leathers, and cosmetics (Osborne, 2024). The oil also proved useful for lubricating machinery, and as the Industrial Revolution began to gain traction by the mid-18th century, whaling proved crucial for supporting the era's rapid mechanization (Andreasson & Ruback, 2021).

By the 1840s whaling was the fifth-largest industry in the United States, but the lucrative practice was reaching a turning point (Thompson, 2012). Whale populations had been significantly depleted due to overfishing, and suddenly it was considerably more difficult to capture and harness the resources of these endangered creatures. The price of whale oil began to rise sharply in response to dwindling populations, and a once dependable workforce of whalers was beginning to shrink (Thompson, 2012). On top of these problems, the costs of retrofitting aging whaling vessels became unsustainable as profits declined (Kemp, 2024). As energy demands grew alongside global populations, it became even more difficult to maintain the same scale of operations that had been seen just a decade before. Once crude oil wells were discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859, the shift away from whale oil as a fuel source became cemented (Heckel, 2023). Not only was petroleum cheaper and easier to harvest than whale oil, but it was also working with a foundation of production, distribution, and end-use that could be borrowed from existing liquid fuel systems (McCollough & Check, Jr., 2010). There was no need to reinvent the wheel to accommodate this emerging energy economy, and with untapped and stationary oil reserves across the U.S., it was inevitable that whale oil would be phased out.

Expertise, Labor, and Technologies

The aforementioned specialization of Nantucket whalemen became a kind of prized resource in the whale oil industry beyond the whales themselves. These whalers were globally known for their adept skills, and were sought out by competing industries (Andreasson & Ruback, 2021). The British, for example, established trade systems and treaties that were conducive to attracting these specialists into their domestic whaling industry. Nantucket whalers were excluded from the Restraining Act of 1775, which sought to limit trade between American colonies and Great Britain following civil unrest among colonists (Andreasson & Ruback, 2021). After the Revolutionary War, Great Britain imposed large tariffs on whale oil to bolster their domestic market and hinder the young American economy, hoping to attract whalers to the briefly more prosperous British industry (Andreasson & Ruback, 2021; New Bedford Whaling Museum, n.d.).

In a sense, the mobility of the whales themselves made labor sources a more prosperous resource to target. These Nantucket whalers, many untethered to the colonial fight for independence due to their Quaker background, were goaded into various international industries with the promise of religious freedom (Andreasson & Ruback, 2021). At the mercy of 19th century power politics between the U.S., Britain, and France, these whalers were commodified for their specialization.

Governments Shaping Energy Preferences

Despite the major impacts of overfishing and high operational costs, whale oil was not entirely hampered by chance or mere market forces. The federal government had a considerable hand in shaping what energy uptake looked like at the time, largely through tax policy. By 1850, the U.S. government had placed a $1.30-$2.50/gallon tax on whale oil, while levying only a 10 cent/gallon tax on new Pennsylvania kerosene (PBS, 2008). As the Civil War began a decade later, the federal government imposed a $2/gallon tax on all beverage alcohol, and strangely included all liquid fuel sources that contained alcohol under this umbrella (PBS, 2008). This included camphine, a liquid fuel that pre-dated kerosene. For consumers, American kerosene was the clear and cost-effective choice over whale oil or other liquid fuels. The Civil War vastly shrunk an already shrinking fleet of whaling boats in the North, placing yet another nail in the coffin of whale oil (Kemp, 2024).

It's clear that the mere introduction of kerosene alone was not enough to foster a rapid energy transition. Political forces, whether it be federal pricing decisions or war, molded the rise of petroleum as a centrally important fuel source. Despite claims from today's oil giants that subsidies have not played a role in the industry's might, the transition away from whale oil illuminates how government intervention and political and social developments have long shaped the energy preferences of consumers (PBS, 2008).

Dual-Use and Energy Additions

Even after whale oil was eclipsed by crude oil, its derivatives continued to be used for the production of an array of different products. Beyond its past usage as an ingredient in many soaps and cosmetics, whale oil's use for defense purposes grew by World War I. The substance could be used for the production of dynamite and other explosives used by the U.S. military, as well as the lubrication of their machines, and later, aircrafts (Dirr, 2023).

By the 1960s, more than 100 years after petroleum was found in Pennsylvania, sperm whales faced extinction (New Bedford Whaling Museum, n.d.). Though whaling had lost almost all of its past cache by this period, its existence was prolonged with the introduction of steam ships, diesel engines, and more sophisticated radar, though many note that this came too late to sustain it in a lasting way (McCollough & Chuck, Jr., 2010). By the 20th century, whaling had shifted from the Northern to Southern hemisphere in response to the depletion of whale populations in the North (Rocha et al., 2015). Concurrent with this shift came the invention of factory ships, vessels that allowed for whale oil to be extracted, processed, and stored all while still at sea (Dirr, 2023). This method of production, while again at a dramatically smaller scale than before, proved more cost-effective and efficient than returning to land after every harvest (Basberg, 1998). These technological developments, as well as the dual-uses for whale oil in the defense industry, helped prolong whaling even when it had been phased out of energy markets.

The persistence of whaling points to the cumulative rather than transformational nature that energy transitions often take. Until concerted international efforts were made to ban the practice and protect whale populations later in the 20th century, the environmental harms of whaling were able to manifest themselves still. In connection to our current energy transition, some policymakers and technologists argue that market forces will be enough to promote a shift away from fossil fuels (Conor, 2023). Yet as the case of whale oil reveals, there needed to be economic, political, and social efforts working in tandem in order to foster this shift (Dirr, 2023; PBS, 2008).

International Cooperation and Environmental Activism

The International Whaling Commission was established in 1946 and created to regulate the whaling industry and organize conservation efforts for whale populations (International Whaling Commission, n.d.-b). The initial aims of the organization outlined in their preamble (coined the "Schedule" by the Commission), included the delineation of catch limits, whale sanctuaries, and restrictions on hunting methods. This Schedule was established to be a living document and subject to any changes that the Commission might feel necessary in the future.

Decades after its establishment, the efforts of the IWC gained greater attention as the "Save the Whales" movement took off. Songs of the Humpback, a 1970 album of whale song recordings, was released to wide acclaim and interest among international populations (O'Dell, 1970). The record proved important in sparking awareness for the plight of the whale in an age of dwindling populations, and became the bestselling environmental album in history. Just two years later at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, the council adopted a proposal recommending at least a 10-year moratorium on commercial whaling in order to let existing populations bounce back from overfishing (The New York Times, 1972).

By 1982, there was significant buzz around protecting threatened whale species, and the IWC voted that same year to issue a moratorium on commercial whaling that would go into effect in 1986 (International Whaling Commission, n.d.-a). The moratorium remains in place today, though some nations like Norway, Iceland, and Japan still hold special permits for small-scale whaling operations (Mishler, 2023). The organization was able to gain momentum for international laws and regulations that largely eliminated the practice of whaling in the wake of the aforementioned environmental movements (International Whaling Commission, n.d.-a). Without this concurrent support from the general public and their governments, the potency of the IWC's moratorium might not have proved as strong.

Greenpeace and Anti-Whaling Activism at Sea

One of the biggest advocates for the anti-whaling movement has been environmental group Greenpeace, formed in 1971 in Vancouver, Canada by a group of individuals attempting to stop a US nuclear weapon test off the coast of Alaska (Mackenzie, 2018). Over the years the group pivoted to a wider scope of environmental causes, one being the protection of whales hunted for their oil. In the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s, Greenpeace enlisted ships for its campaigns against whaling, seal hunting, and nuclear testing (Douglas, 2023). The organization sailed around the globe and disseminated images of whales being killed to spark public outrage, employing direct action tactics against offending whaling ships. In one case, Greenpeace confronted Soviet whaling fleets in the North Pacific off the coast of California in 1975 (Douglas, 2023). The confrontation prompted the whaling ships to fire harpoons at the Greenpeace activists, nearly striking some (Flowers, 1975). Though the anti-whaling activists were unable to halt the operation completely, the event was widely reported on major news outlets and drew wider attention to the Save the Whale movement (Flowers, 1975). Greenpeace targeted these Soviet fleets for several years after this first meeting, successfully pushing the whalers and their factory ships away from their targets in several cases. Greenpeace's UK branch launched direct action against Icelandic whalers in the North Atlantic aboard the Rainbow Warrior, a particularly famous Greenpeace vessel, in 1978 (Time Magazine, 1979).

Yet Greenpeace's activism at sea was not always well-received by global audiences. In 1985, the Rainbow Warrior set sail for an anti-nuclear campaign off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand (New Zealand History, 2018). The crew was protesting French nuclear testing in the Pacific (which studies estimate contaminated over 110,000 people in French Polynesia) and aimed to sail to the site of the testing, Mururoa Atoll, days after mooring in New Zealand (BBC, 2021). Late one night, a set of two explosions set off on the hull of the Rainbow Warrior, sinking the ship and killing a Portuguese photographer onboard (New Zealand History, 2018). The bombing was later attributed to two Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) officers, or members of France's foreign intelligence agency. Their mission was to halt the activities of the Rainbow Warrior before they reached Mururoa Atoll.

The event sparked considerable global outrage, particularly from New Zealand, who felt that France had endangered their own citizens despite technically targeting an international organization (New Zealand History, 2018). The UN stepped in to mediate the settlement between New Zealand and France, and eventually the former received $13 million, an apology from France, and orders to not interfere with New Zealand's trade negotiations (New Zealand History, 2018). The two DGSE officers were briefly imprisoned on a nearby French military base, but were later repatriated and even promoted upon return to France.

The event highlighted a case in which environmental activism, though not expressly for an anti-whaling cause in this case, precipitated into violent retaliation (Huch, 2023). Greenpeace's efforts abided by pacifist direct action principles, in contrast with other more radical environmental organizations like the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, yet they were still met with targeted violence (Nousari, 2024). The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior distills the power dynamics at play between states and advocacy organizations. The colonial history of France in the Pacific was an important driving force for its actions, highlighting how extractive and exploitative industries must often be maintained through state sanctioned violence. The French government faced few repercussions in the wake of the bombing, and notably, a lack of condemnation from allies such as the US and UK (New Zealand History, 2018). Greenpeace's role as an environmental advocacy organization made it a relatively easy target, particularly if it could be painted as "radical" and disruptive to official government activities. This dynamic feels wholly applicable to other instances of environmental advocacy, where peaceful protests have been escalated by state governments to protect existing systems of power.

A Parallel Case: The Ozone Layer and Global Environmental Cooperation

Scientists became aware of the depleting ozone in the 1980s, when a team of researchers measured ozone levels that were only two-thirds as thick as they had been in earlier decades above the Antarctic Halley Research Station (Colwell & Shanklin, 2022). The results proved so surprising that some researchers believed the measurements to have been an error. In 1985, the first paper reporting on the ozone hole was published (Solomon, 2019). Subsequent research expeditions confirmed the presence of a hole in the ozone layer, as well as linkages between the phenomenon and CFCs. The 1985 paper was largely effective at mobilizing environmental efforts to curb further depletion, showing that ozone levels had been dropping rapidly since the late 1970s (Colwell & Shanklin, 2022; Piper, 2023).

Prior to the watershed 1985 paper, other scientists had slowly been piecing together what exactly makes the ozone breakdown. One 1974 UC Irvine study found that the chlorine monoxide produced from CFCs was harmful to the ozone, a discovery which precipitated widespread boycotts of aerosol products in the US and prompted some companies to redesign their products entirely (Piper, 2023). Though there was still considerable pushback from many CFC-dependent industries, the ozone layer became a hotter topic of conversation by the late 1970s. Environmental activism and scientific pressure prompted ozone layer protections to be included in the Clean Air Act, and by the early 1980s, the EPA issued a report on the dangers of CFCs on both the ozone and human health (Doniger, 2007; Environmental Protection Agency, 1982). Bipartisan Congressional hearings in the mid-1980s on ozone layer protection, coupled with the news of an Antarctic ozone hole, further pushed the problem into the public eye (Mooney, 2016).

By 1987, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was established in order to attack this problem head-on (Office of Environmental Quality, n.d.). The treaty froze production and consumption of CFCs and other ozone-depleting chemicals found in things like spray cans, refrigerators, and foam packaging. It became the first environmental treaty signed by all 198 member states of the UN. Global consumers also took action, prompting consumer boycotts of products that contained the harmful CFCs targeted by the Montreal Protocol (Andersen et al., 2022). The health impacts of ozone depletion, from skin cancer to cataracts, as well as the harms posed to agriculture and natural ecosystems, cemented an active global response. But more specifically, it was the nature of CFCs themselves that made action a more straightforward path than in present climate change contexts. There were cost-effective substitutes for these substances that already existed, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which although a potent greenhouse gas, does not breakdown the ozone layer (Azari & Obonyo, 2021). CFCs, though widespread in use, also proved to be less politically and economically-entrenched in everyday life than fossil fuels. Political negotiations on their ban were less bogged down by division and heavy industry influence as a result, making global cooperation rapid in comparison to our contemporary climate mitigation efforts (Kaplan, 2024; Waxman, 2019).

In the end, our global response to ozone depletion was made possible through the efforts of scientists, consumers, environmental activists, and political systems less divided on CFC replacement than they are on fossil fuel replacement. The sweeping impacts of the Montreal Protocol stand as an example of rapid environmental cooperation that can create lasting climate protections.

Lessons Learned from the Whale Oil Energy Transition

In summary, the transition from whale oil to petroleum has taught us that a new technology or energy source on the market is often not enough to quell old and detrimental consumption habits. Policy decisions, advances in efficient refinery and marketing from the petroleum industry, and environmental activism were a crucial component of enacting change (York, 2017). Though the extractive energy economy of whaling became uneconomical to exploit after its height, the practice persisted even when whales became fewer and farther between. To sustain itself, the whaling industry adopted new technology and new uses for their products in order to prolong global reliance on its extractive industry.

Campaigns like the "Save the Whales" movement were integral in cracking down on an industry that many were unaware was still actively causing harm (Mackenzie, 2018). Public awareness was successful at giving lesser-known bodies of power like the IWC an amplified voice, while also encouraging more established bodies of global lawmaking like the UN to call attention to the issue. The momentum of various environmental movements of the 1970s helped finalize this energy transition. Environmental activism such as Greenpeace's anti-whaling efforts were met with strong opposition and even violence in some cases, but ultimately paved the way for the demise of the whaling industry.

Relevance to Advanced Nuclear Energy

We chose whale oil as an analog for our current energy transition. We wanted to examine what sparked the switch from whale oil to petroleum, and what political/economic/social forces helped move us from one kind of extractive energy economy to another. The case illuminated that it is not just the mere existence of another energy source that sparks a transition, but the culmination of government legislation, taxation and trade decisions, and public support for a switch. The case also made clear that expertise is a sought-after resource within energy economies, and that technological developments can help prolong our reliance on older extractive energy systems. In the context of advanced nuclear, this case shows that the mere existence of advanced reactors won't quell fossil fuel reliance alone, and that favorable legislation, pricing, and public acceptance of the tech can help cement its uptake and effectiveness. Advanced nuclear is also likely to prolong our reliance on the harmful uranium mining industry, and broker global trade relationships that might not otherwise be made on the basis of resource and expertise exports. This stands to harm marginalized communities where uranium mining is focused, and rural communities that might not have existing nuclear workforce expertise but will bear the siting risks of a plant.

Key Sources

Andreasson, S., & Ruback, T. J. (2021). "Our oil would burn bright til morning:" Geopolitics, resource securitization, and Anglo-American competition for whale oil, 1783-1818. Energy Research & Social Science, 76, 102035.

Dirr, O. (2023, March 11). The first great energy transition: How humanity gave up whaling. The Guardian.

Mackenzie, W. (2018, September 10). A brief history of commercial whaling and Greenpeace. Greenpeace.

Rocha, Jr., R. C., Clapham, P. J., & Ivashchenko, Y. (2015). Emptying the oceans: A summary of industrial whaling catches in the 20th century. Marine Fisheries Review, 76(4), 37-48.

Thompson, D. (2012, February 22). The spectacular rise and fall of U.S. whaling: An innovation story. The Atlantic.

York, R. (2017). Why petroleum did not save the whales. Socius, 3.

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Photo: A whale being speared with harpoons by fishermen in the Arctic sea. Engraving by A. M. Fournier after E. Traviès. Édouard Traviès / Public domain, via Wellcome Collection