Around 1600 the Dutch were looking for an alternative, northern passage to Asia. Although they did not find it, they did chart the region north of Scandinavia and reported on the whales they saw there.

At that time oil was a rare and expensive commodity in the Netherlands. Prices were so high that is became profitable to bring whale oil onto the market as a cheap alternative. From 1612 onwards, smart entrepreneurs started to send ships to the north to hunt whales. The animals' blubber was boiled to extract the oil. Whale oil was used as a lubricant and as fuel for oil lamps.

Increasing competition and the decreasing number of whales in the northern seas resulted in whaling becoming a branch of industry that lost money, and ultimately caused its decline.

This theme comprises a trip on a whaler. The journey north is pictured, as well as the stay in the northern seas, the hunting and processing of the whales and the voyage home. The home culture section shows objects on which whale hunting is depicted as well as objects made out of whalebone and narwhal tusk.