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Essential Question: What impact did the whaling industry have on
Nantucket’s culture and environment and how does its legacy live on?
“Nantucket! Take out your map and look at it. See what a real corner of the world it occupies; how it stands there, away off shore, more lonely than the Eddystone lighthouse.” – Moby Dick
Did you know . . .
�The head of a sperm whale contains up to 500 gallons of precious oil called spermaceti. It was used for lighting lamps, making candles, and serving as a lubricant.
Did you know . . .�The spermaceti never freezes, even in extreme temperatures.
� In order to get all of the oil from the head of the sperm whale, the smallest crew member was sent inside the head to retrieve all the oil.
� Spermaceti gives off no odor while burning.
Did you know . . .� Sperm whales can dive up to a mile and a half below the surface and hold their breath up to an hour and a half
� Due to the fact that the sperm whale’s eyes are on the side of their head, they have poor eyesight
� They hunt giant squid using echo location
This building is the counting house, where the barrels of the oil retrieved from the whales were counted.
Did you know . . . �Today, NASA continues to use the spermaceti as a lubricant on satellites and probes.
�They continue to use it because it does not freeze.
The jaw of an adult sperm whale can measure up to 16 ft in length
Did you know . . . � To pass time after harvesting the whale, crew members removed the teeth and carved into them. This is referred to as scrimshaw.
� Ink was then wiped over the surface, staining the, engravings, but keeping the rest of the tooth clean.
21 year-‐old Sperm Whale
Young 48-‐ft Sperm Whale
� “With the landless gull, that at sunset folds her wings and is rocked to sleep between billows; so at nightfall, the Nantucketer, our of sight of land, furls his sails, and lays him to his rest, while under his very pillow rush herds of walruses and whales.” -‐ Moby Dick
