Ishmael (Moby-Dick) morning Ishmael and Queequeg head for Nantucket. Ishmael signs up for a voyage on the whaler "Pequod", under Captain Ahab. Ahab is obsessed by the white whale, Moby Dick, who on a previous voyage has severed his leg. In his quest for revenge Ahab has lost all sense of responsibility, and when the whale sinks the ship, all crewmembers drown, with the exception of Ishmael: “And I only am escaped alone to tell thee” (Job) says the epigraph. Ishmael keeps himself afloat on a coffin until he is picked up by another whaling ship, the "Rachel". The name Ishmael is
Whaling in the Sea of Okhotsk were fitted out for as long as a fortnight, sailing about for bowheads during the day and camping on the beach at night. American and Russian crews sometimes camped together. Whereas boats were often sent inshore to look for bowheads, right whaling offshore was always ship-based, with three or four boats usually being lowered for whales. Boats after right whales were gone from their ship for hours (not days or weeks, like boats searching for bowheads sometimes were), and seldom ventured far from their ship. While bowheads could be caught at night, boats that were still fast to right whales