 Whaling by humans has existed since the Stone Age . Ancient whalers used harpoons to spear the bigger animals from boats out at sea . People from Norway started hunting whales around 2000 B.C. , and people from Japan began hunting whales in the Pacific at least as early . Whales are typically hunted for their meat and blubber by aboriginal groups ; they used baleen for baskets or roofing , and made tools and masks out of bones . The Inuit hunted whales in the Arctic Ocean . The Basques started whaling as early as the 11th century , sailing as far as Newfoundland in the 16th century in search of right whales . 18th and 19th century whalers hunted down whales mainly for their oil , which was used as lamp fuel and a lubricant , baleen or whalebone , which was used for items such as corsets and skirt hoops , and ambergris , which was used as a fixative for perfumes . The most successful whaling nations at this time were Holland , Japan , and the United States . 
