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 Philippines Whaling in the Philippines Whaling in the Philippines refers to the catching of whales in Philippine waters. Evidence of whaling in the archipelago was recorded as early as the seventeenth century. There is limited documentation of whaling in the Philippines. Filipino whalers often caught Bryde whales in the past. American and British whalers often caught sperm whales in Sulu, Mindoro and the Celebes. British whaling in the Philippines were reported to have occurred from 1820 to 1840 while American whaling was reported to have happened in 1825 and 1880 alongside local whaling by Filipinos in Bohol. There was a short