The Whale of a Tale

I spent the better part of last weekend on the couch, with a dull headache plaguing the base of my skull, enough so that when I woke up on Saturday morning, the minute I stood up, my stomach did not fare well at all, to put it as discreetly as possible. And so, being relegated to the couch, when I was not sleeping, I tried to watch some TV. I happened upon “Moby Dick, the 1956  classic with Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, and Richard Basehart as Ishmael.

When I was forced to read these American literature classics in school, I must admit I truly missed their greater meaning. I guess it was a subject not of particular interest to me, and hence I dutifully read, and after being tested on the subject, quickly forgot the story.

Watching the movie, which was probably not as good as Herman Melville’s original book, I was intrigued, captivated. The story caught my greater imagination. I would now like to know more, and I will probably get the book for my library.
The story takes place in the 1800’s, but meanwhile, I looked into whaling during the 1700’s for the good of this blog.

Before the 1600’s, whaling was primarily done by indigenous people for basic needs. It was not until much later when faster ships were employed and better methods of butchering developed  that commercial whaling became more popular. The first commercial ventures were organized in Europe, with England beginning whaling expeditions in Greenland in 1610.

In the New World, whaling operations were in full swing from 1600-1700 in Cape Cod. Throughout the 1700’s the industry exploded in the American Colonies with 1789 being a major year.  Advancement in weaponry included the shoulder gun and darting gun. With these developments a huge expansion in whaling began, almost like a gold rush, people making great fortunes at the trade.

But this led to the danger of whales being killed off in greater and greater numbers, almost to extinction. Today, whaling is monitored by almost every nation.  Of course, as in all business, the notion of supply and demand rule, and eventually, profits were not made as readily, costs increased, too much effort was expended in voyaging out to find the whales, and the trade lost its appeal.
Well, either things need to change, or as they say, all good things come to an end.