 American sperm whaling soon spread from the east coast of the American colonies to the Gulf Stream , the Grand Banks , West Africa ( 1763 ) , the Azores ( 1765 ) , and the South Atlantic ( 1770s ) . From 1770 to 1775 Massachusetts , New York , Connecticut , and Rhode Island ports produced 45 @,@ 000 barrels of sperm oil annually , compared to 8 @,@ 500 of whale oil . In the same decade , the British began sperm whaling , employing American ships and personnel . By the following decade , the French had entered the trade , also employing American expertise . Sperm whaling increased until the mid @-@ nineteenth century . Spermaceti oil was important in public lighting ( for example , in lighthouses , where it was used in the United States until 1862 , when it was replaced by lard oil , in turn replaced by petroleum ) and for lubricating the machines ( such as those used in cotton mills ) of the Industrial Revolution . Sperm whaling declined in the second half of the nineteenth century , as petroleum came into broader use . In that sense , petroleum use may be said to have protected whale populations from even greater exploitation . Sperm whaling in the eighteenth century began with small sloops carrying only one or two whaleboats . The fleet 's scope and size increased over time , and larger ships entered the fishery . In the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century sperm whaling ships sailed to the equatorial Pacific , the Indian Ocean , Japan , the coast of Arabia , Australia and New Zealand . Hunting could be dangerous to the crew , since sperm whales ( especially bulls ) will readily fight to defend themselves against attack , unlike most baleen whales . When dealing with a threat , sperm whales will use their huge head effectively as a battering ram . Arguably the most famous sperm whale counter @-@ attack occurred on 20 November 1820 , when a whale claimed to be about 25 @.@ 9 metres ( 85 ft ) long rammed and sank the Nantucket whaleship Essex . Only 8 out of 21 sailors survived to be rescued by other ships . This instance is popularly believed to have inspired Herman Melville 's famous book Moby @-@ Dick . 
