What is it like to swim with 1,000 liters of oil in your head? The answer to this question, no one but sperm whales can answer, they have a big head, the head alone accounts for 1/3 of the body weight, and this head is not only heavy, but also square.
Whaling began very early, before the use of blubber, oil lamps have also existed for a long time, but for a long time, the fuel used in oil lamps is mainly beeswax, animal oil, vegetable oil, etc., of which beeswax is more high-quality, but the price is relatively high, but the oil and other animal oils are commonly used fuels.
However, when butter (or a candle made of butter) is lit, not only does the brightness limit, but also produces odors and smoke. Butter fuel is in an embarrassing situation that ordinary people can't afford to use and the nobility is very disgusted, and blubber replaces other fuels well and is sought after.
As a result, the oil on the whale's body was quickly used, and people used it to light light the lighthouse and guide the navigators, for one whaling ship after another to return with the whales they caught.
At the same time, successive ocean voyages have made people aware of more people, things, and things that they have never seen or known before, and in the early 18th century, the encounter with sperm whales originated from an accident.
Around 1712, a captain named Hessey encountered a storm near South Tarket Island, and after the storm, Hirsy was pleasantly surprised to encounter a new whale with teeth and a square head, so large and powerful that it was difficult to catch, but after a battle, it fell under the whaling fork.
Hirsy and the crew were extremely curious about the head of the "square-headed whale", and during the dissection, an oily substance appeared... It is conceivable that the transformation of all those present from anticipation to joy, and they did not know that the white oily substance in the cranial cavity (brain oil vessel) would change the fuel market and the fate of these sperm whales in front of them.
Soon after the sperm whale was discovered, people quickly learned that there were unusual good things in their huge square heads, compared with body oil, these whale brain oil was smokeless and odorless after ignition, not only high brightness, but also very stable light, so in less than half a century, candles made of sperm whale brain oil became a sought after illumination object by the nobles and literati.
For example, Franklin has said many times that he likes the candle made of whale brain oil, it is pure and bright, it will not be softened by high temperature, light a whale brain oil candle to read, will not be affected by the smell and black smoke, and can burn for a long time.
It is conceivable that in order to meet the needs of lighting and achieve a stable supply of whale brain oil candles, the hunting of sperm whales has been developed from small scale to industrialization, and the hunting of sperm whales has developed.
At that time, catching sperm whales was not an easy task, after all, whalers were facing a large head weighing 50 tons and a body length of about 20 meters, and it was inevitable that they would encounter dangers in the competition with sperm whales.
Not only is it difficult to hunt whales, but it is also not easy to extract whale brain oil, people have to dig a hole in the head of a sperm whale, then climb into its skull cavity, and then scrape the whale brain oil off, the whole process can take several days, during which you have to endure the smell of the sperm whale's decaying body, but in order to get whale brain oil, everything is worth it.
It is human behavior that whale brain oil is used for illumination, so what is the use of these oils for sperm whales? Although there is no conclusive conclusion, there are three theories.
The first is to adjust the buoyancy.
Sperm whales like to catch giant deep-sea squid, this prey is active in the deep sea, sperm whales often need to dive into the seabed more than 2,000 meters deep when catching them, at this time they have to rely on the assistance of whale brain oil, when they move downstream, whale brain oil will solidify due to cooling, making sperm whale sink down; when floating, sperm whales will accelerate their own blood circulation to melt whale brain oil, thereby increasing buoyancy.
The second is to act as a "sonar".
Sperm whales make very complex sounds when they swim, as if they are communicating with each other, but this sound is actually used by sperm whales to "see" their surroundings using pulses and echoes, and whale brain oil is one of the tools they use for positioning.
Third, the sound wave vibrates.
Scientists have found small prey that swim very fast in the stomach of sperm whales, because they have no bite marks on their bodies, so they are likely to be swallowed by sperm whales in a "coma" state, and researchers speculate that sperm whales use whale brain oil to focus sound wave pulses to vibrate prey and then swallow them.
Some say that oil extraction saved sperm whales before humans could wipe out the marine life, but it is estimated that about 2/3 of sperm whales have died during the long-term whaling process.
Humans once benefited from sperm whales and drew light from them, and now they deserve to be treated well.