Wild Wonders of Europe / Carwardine / Aerial view of Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) swimming through oil slick, Skjalfandi Bay, Northern Iceland, July 2009

Doug Perrine / Old bottle for Sperm whale oil, Whaler's village museum, Hawaii

Ashley Cooper / King penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) and Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), by the old whaling station at Grytviken on South Georgia. In its 58 years of operation, it handled 53,761 slaught...

Ashley Cooper / The old whaling station at Grytviken on South Georgia. In its 58 years of operation, it handled 53,761 slaughtered whales, producing 455,000 tons of whale oil and 192,000 tons of whale meat. February...

Ashley Cooper / Old whaling station at Grytviken, South Georgia. In its 58 years of operation, it handled 53,761 slaughtered whales, producing 455,000 tons of whale oil and 192,000 tons of whale meat. February 2014

Nature Picture Library / Whale skin leftovers, referred to as koro", for sale. This is what remains of the skin and blubber after oil has been squeezed out and sold separately.

Suzi Eszterhas / Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing in oil slicked water, Skjalfandi, Iceland

Enrique Lopez-Tapia / Oil tanks from an old whaling station, Deception Island, Antarctica.