A sperm whale got into difficulty after becoming entangled in rope off the east coast of Skye. The British Divers Marine Life ...

A bull sperm whale can grow to 20m (67ft) long and is the largest living toothed animal. They are named after the waxy oil in their heads, called spermaceti, which was previously used in oil lamps ...

The economic stakes were high: Each expedition could yield hundreds of barrels of precious whale oil. There was also valuable ambergris, a substance from the sperm whale used in making perfumes ...

For the next century and a half, Nantucketers will specialize in hunting sperm whales. Tryworks -- brick oven furnaces used to render oil from whale blubber -- are first installed on ships ...

They were once widely hunted for body parts, which were used in lubrication and fuel oil. Sperm whales are the largest marine mammals with teeth and are best known for their large, bulbous heads.