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 Norway produced only a small fraction of the expected oil revenue in its first year. Another business, the Alaska Whaling Co., was established in 1911 by investors from Norway (including Lars Christensen) and Norwegian-Americans. The company’s shore station was set up in Akutan – an island in the Aleutians. Fishermen protested against the floating factory and biologists raised concerns for the survival of gray and bowhead whales. The Alaska Whaling Co. purchased the "Admiralen" (first steam powered factory ship to be used in Antarctica in 1905) for its floating factory in 1912. However, even with two catchers built in Seattle, production