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 New Zealand whaling ship in the southern oceans. He was convicted in Japan and deported back to New Zealand. Whaling in New Zealand Whaling in New Zealand dates back to the late 18th century, and ended in 1964 since it was no longer economic. Nineteenth-century whaling was based on the southern right whale, and 20th-century whaling on the humpback whale. There is now an established industry for whale watching based in the South Island town of Kaikoura. The Māori, who were the first to settle in New Zealand, appear to have hunted whales rarely, but did eat stranded whales. The earliest association