Whale oil

Tran, also called " polar oil " or " fish oil " is derived from the fatty tissue of marine mammals such as whales and seals, the so-called blubber, and of fatty fish by heating, pressing, melting out or simple tapping oil.

The whale oil obtained by the boiling of zerstückeltem whale blubber was used until the early 20th century as a lamp oil; he was the first available in large quantities liquid fuel and its extraction was the main economic driving force of whaling. This was operated particularly in the 17th and 18th century in a very big way especially by sailors from England and the Netherlands. Preferred regions for this was initially the coasts of Spitzbergen and the Norwegian Sea, which had enormous stocks of whales and seals at that time; after the decline of the northern stocks, whaling was then shifted increasingly in the sub-Antarctic waters of the South Atlantic and South Pacific.

By rancidity Tran can assume an unpleasant odor and taste, while it is fresh edible.

Cod liver oil is not whales, but from the liver of fish, especially the cod and cod, won.

Trangewinnung

The picture below of a work of the 18th century shows the preparation of WalTran as it was common on the coasts of the North Sea (Greenland, Spitsbergen ). From whaling ships bacon pieces are delivered in drums (a). In the large copper boiler ( b ) they are heated and brought to a boil ( c ), so you can skim off the fat with a spoon and pour into the channel. Where the grease is sieved (d) and then flows through a plurality of water-filled trough in which the fat is cooled. Finally, it is bottled in barrels from coopers (s). According image inscription provides a whale 45 to 50 Quardeelen Tran, which corresponds according to today's units roughly 5 tons.

On some islands, such as the Kerguelen and South Georgia, the boilers were partially heated with penguins, as trees on site were in short supply and you wanted to save the fuel supplies on the ships.

Decline of Tranproduktion

At the beginning of the 19th century, the income from the whaling declined significantly since the whaling areas had been heavily overfished. The slow reproductive rates of whales could keep up with the Abschlachtungsgeschwindigkeit by the whalers in any way. With the advent of the oil industry in the late 19th century, the Tran was then increasingly replaced by petroleum. As a lubricant whale was not until the 1950s use. In the first decades of the 20th century Tran served as raw material for margarine, candle and soap making and as an ointment base for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Today, other raw materials, mainly vegetable fats, replaced him. Whaling is now regulated by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling and illegal in most states.