### id262786685 consumer demand can destroy populations > The whaling industry as a whole was one of the biggest in the nation, with more than 2,700 whaleships prowling the ocean at its height. Though it was whale oil that lit the world’s lamps, the industry had a dark side. The unceasing consumer appetite for oil had led the mighty leviathans to be hunted to such an extent that, even by the end of the 1800s, their numbers were diminishing. In fact, it was the declining numbers that led to the first Arctic whaling expeditions. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fqy5vt04vf0zammjcdnajagt) - [[Dramatic Discovery of Two Whaleships Lost in Arctic for 144 Years by Erik Ofgang#id262786685 consumer demand can destroy populations|View in Vault]] - [n] #storystem/fic for some sort of boating story in [[Verraine]]