[Reily]

The last two whaling nations were Norway and Japan. The Japanese actually eat whale meat. Don't what motivated the Norwegians, also I think now Japan is the only whaling nation.
At one time (don't think that is the case now!) the absolute best lubricant for fine mechanical machinery was whale oil. I think that's not the case now and other lubricants have replaced it.

Still in principle I agree with you.

[Jagermonster]

Whale oil is still used today because it has certain unique physical properties. For example, they use it in the Hubble Space Telescope because it is very resistant to freezing. See here for more info: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/whale-oil-as-space-lubricant.php.