Moby Dick, novel and whales today

[John Arton]

I have just finished reading "The Wreck of the Whale ship Essex, which is a true account, taken from survivors memories, of how a whale attacked and sunk the "Essex" in the Pacific Ocean back in the 1800's. This is the basis of Herman Melvilles famous book (and film) "Moby Dick".
In this book one survivor tells how he thought that the whale in question that twice attacked the Essex, intentionally did so after the pod it was part off had been hunted by the whalers. The small chase boats had sometimes been stricken by whales breaching after been harpooned but in this case it appeared that the whale deliberately targeted the mother ship.
The book is available for free to Kindle readers and it is not fiction but records the events that occurred to the survivors during the voyage, including the hardships they endured in sailing thousands of miles in open boats across the Pacific, amongst which were storms, hunger and thirst and even canellabism.
No sooner had I finished reading the book than this article pops up in the news regarding the number of whales being stranded on beaches on the East coast of England and other countries bordering on the North Sea. According to so called experts these stranding's are caused by ships noise and oil rigs confusing the whales built in navigation systems.
So you just cannot win eh! Stop hunting them and then get accused of disrupting these magnificent creatures navigation systems. As if todays mariners did not have enough to contend with, what with gung ho Italian captains, unstable ships, deadbeat officers who cannot even apply the Collision Regulations correctly and tick box "elf an safty" idiots running their lives.
rgds
JA
Stranded Whale 'Alive' On Hunstanton Beach

[Ivan Cloherty]

Solution......let's stop all the ships trading around the UK coast and entering our ports, that should save the whales and satisfy the Greens and we will all lose weight because there will be no food and we will be walking everywhere and Ethiopia can send us food through the tunnel, it will also solve the refugee and asylum seeker problem.......knew I should have been in politics..............watch out Jeremy Corbyn............I'm on my way!

[j.sabourn]

Don’t remember putting this on before, but as regards Whales most people go Gaga and pay money to go to see. Seaman depending on their area of trade were a common sight. Even in the North sea on one oil recovery ship I was on , sometimes I used to anchor overnight In the Moray Firth area. At first light in the morning you could smell, this old humpback who used to come alongside and rub himself along the ships hull. He was covered in barnacles and probably sea lice. Contrary to what people. Think about whales one usually smells them before ever seeing. They would be a good advertising point for some of the anti perspiration aromas on sale, even though a part of the whales hump was part of its value as was used in women’s perfumery of the more expensive type. JS

[Shaun Gander]

Don’t remember putting this on before, but as regards Whales most people go Gaga and pay money to go to see. Seaman depending on their area of trade were a common sight. Even in the North sea on one oil recovery ship I was on , sometimes I used to anchor overnight In the Moray Firth area. At first light in the morning you could smell, this old humpback who used to come alongside and rub himself along the ships hull. He was covered in barnacles and probably sea lice. Contrary to what people. Think about whales one usually smells them before ever seeing. They would be a good advertising point for some of the anti perspiration aromas on sale, even though a part of the whales hump was part of its value as was used in women’s perfumery of the more expensive type. JS

We see them on a regular basis along with seals and dolphins.

The local whale watch boats charge the same as a one way fare with us. Most captains will stop for a show and the passengers are always overwhelmed. One of the local companies complained that we were taking their business away and we shouldn't stop

I remember when I first started here a group of teenagers were ecstatic at seeing some dolphins. I asked one of them if they'd seen them before. He saiid they were from Iowa and this was the first time most of them had even seen the ocean. That was really humbling and I realized how lucky I was and vowed that day to always stop for wildlife.

SDG

[j.sabourn]

I remember years ago in a distant memory someone showing me a bottle containing some liquid , said belonging to his father who was a chemist, he said it was worth a small fortune . He also said it was extracted from a whale, I said humpback but may have been from a sperm whale. It was what a lot of whales were hunted for. I am surprised it wasn’t advertised more by the anti-whaling people who didn’t broadcast it to show the ignobility of whaling in general. Whales out. Here stopped workwhen doing. Seismic surveys in the mistaken belief by my reckoning it disturbed them, a whale is not stupid like people, if it thinks it’s in danger it goes to pastures new. JS.
If you ever come across a book called the Deep South by W, MacCoughlin who was master and mate both on the Harvester and Venturer plus the other supply vessels working out of South Georgia you should read. It was a factual book and I had the privilege of proof reading some of it when I was 18. As that is 64 years ago I can’t remember where all the full stops and commas went. But was well written by a very experienced seafarer. JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John A
I read that book a few years ago, tremendous factual account of what happened to the Essex, those where the days of tough seamen. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good yarn.
Cheers Des

[Doc Vernon]

Yes did see that on TV here the other day,that was an amazing escape ,may be he did'nt taste too good LOL
cHEERS

[happy daze john in oz]

Rubber in the wet suit, not to the taste of most whales.

Down on the south coast of Victoria in the town of Warnambool every year there is whale watching season.
Whale son their migration pass close by and the town is filed with visitors all keen to see them.
Last year we had a small Right whale, so named as they were considered tot right ones to catch many years ago, made it's way up the Yarra river, the main river in Melbourne before heading back to sea.

Off the south coast of NZ they also have a whale watching season

[Shaun Gander]

Get lots of whales around Tassie too. My son has a house in Burnie on a hill, can see them with the right binoculars.
Wonderful beasts, shame the Japanese have decided to keep hunting them.

There is several place around here where you can sit on the cliffs over looking the San Pedro Channel and watch them with the naked eye as they pass in close to the shore during migration.

SDG

[happy daze john in oz]

Japanese still killing whales makes no sense.
The younger generation, from what we saw last year in Japan, are not interested in whale meat.
It is mainly the older generations who have grown up with it, but according to sources the freezers are full of it.
One of the reasons for the continued slaughter, and that is all it is nothing scientific about it, is the gov subsidies paid to the whaling fleets.
If the subsidy is withdrawn the fishing boats will have not enough to do, unemployment will result something the Japanese gov does not condone.
In Japan everyone has a worth so unemployment is low and to lose a position is to lose face, the worst possible thing that can happen there.