In The Heart Of The Sea: What Whale Oil Is Used For

The dangerous whaling expedition at the center ofIn the Heart of the Seamight seem strange to a modern audience as whaling is such a controversial practice, but whale oil was once so prized that sailors risked their lives to get it.In the Heart of the Seahas an all-star castand tells the story of the sinking of The Essex, the whaling ship that would go on to inspireMoby Dick.In the Heart of the Seais one ofChris Hemsworth’s best movies, and he plays the ship’s first mate, Owen Chase.

Chase was based on a real person, like most characters inIn the Heart of the Sea, including its narrator, Thomas Nickerson, who was the cabin boy and youngest survivor of the shipwreck. While the writers have taken liberties to add tension between the characters,In the Heart of the Seais amovie that tackles the real-world historyof whaling. Whaling was a dangerous practice, but as the prize was so valued, sailors often risked their lives to get it, contending with the whales defending themselves, as well as other crews of sailors with their eyes on the prize.

Four sailors on a boat in the middle of the ocean in In The Heart of the Sea

How Whalers Obtained Whale Oil

Whaling Was A Dangerous Business, Even Without The Shipwreck In The Movie

Whalers would set out to sea in ships, which each had a lookout who would call out when they saw a whale. Once the whale had been harpooned and killed, the crew would cut off the blubber from the carcass while the whale was in the water, then boil strips of the blubber in a purpose-built furnace onboard the ship. When the blubber rendered oil, this would be scraped off and kept for sale later.In the Heart of the Seashows parts of the process of getting whale oilbut mostly focuses on the dangers that come with whaling.

Whaling was so lucrative that all eight survivors returned to the industry.

Chris Hemsworth as Furiosa in Furiosa and Owen Chase In the Heart of the Sea

The events ofIn the Heart of the SeainspiredMoby Dick, which showed the perils of whaling. One was sharks, which scavenged from the whale carcasses, threatening the blubber supply and potentially causing issues for sailors who fell overboard. Another was being shipwrecked, like the crew inIn The Heart of the Sea.The real-life counterparts of the men in In the Heart of the Sea resorted to desperate measures to stay alive, including cannibalism. That said, whaling was so lucrative that all eight survivors returned to the industry after they recovered from their ordeal.

What Whale Oil Was Used For And Why It Was So Profitable

In The Heart Of The Sea’s Last Line Is Extremely Ominous

To the characters inIn the Heart of the Sea, the world ran on whale oil, which was used in soap, oiling engines, and lamps. This high demand made selling it extremely profitable, with a whaling expedition bringing in as much as $35,000 for the cargo.In the Heart of the Seahighlights the way the world prized whale oil, with Herman Melville explaining, “Since it was discovered that whale oil could light our cities in ways never achieved before, it created global demand. It has pushed man to venture further and further into the deep blue unknown.”

A variety of notable movies are now trending on Netflix, and Chris Hemsworth stars in two of them. However, the titles are drastically different.

Whaling has largely been outlawed, and the world no longer needs whale oil for industry, but it still depends on a different kind of oil. At the end ofIn the Heart of the Sea, Herman Melville tells Thomas Nickerson, played by Brendan Gleeson, that he heard of a man drilling into the ground and finding oil. Nickerson replies “Oil from the ground! Fancy that.” This line sounds hopeful and exciting to the characters, but given the history and modern-day conflicts surrounding oil, it was a very ominous way to endIn the Heart of the Sea.