Blue whale skeleton at New Bedford museum still oozing oil

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201 points geox | 2 comments | 17 Oct 24 23:09 UTC | HN request time: 0.409s | source

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firefoxd ◴[19 Oct 24 15:41 UTC] No.41888432[source]▶

You have to see those whales skeletons in person to understand their sheer size. And if you want to know more than you need to about whales, pick up a copy of Moby Dick. Don't be intimidated by the size. I still can't believe this book was written in the 1800s. Catching a whale was akin to striking oil.

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1. mordechai9000 ◴[19 Oct 24 16:20 UTC] No.41888714[source]▶

>>41888432 #

Also, In The Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. It is a non-fiction account of the wreck of the Essex, a Nantucket whaler, that was inexplicably "stove by a whale", and lost at sea - an unheard of occurrence at the time. The crew was forced to survive in open boats for weeks, and resorted to cannibalism.

This was the story that inspired Melville to write Moby Dick.

The book is both a survival story and an investigation of the Nantucket whaling industry and whaling in general, as well as the social and economic background.

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2. drittich ◴[19 Oct 24 22:39 UTC] No.41891340[source]▶

>>41888714 (TP) #

Thanks, sounds amazing! I've checked it out from local library.

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