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 Japan whale populations in coastal Asia out of Japan's EEZ were collapsed by Japanese modern industrial whaling. For further information about status of whale species largely affected by Japanese whaling, see "Wildlife of China". There are 17 different whale species in the Antarctic and many species of whales migrate south to take advantage of food. This is the reason why most of whaling ships come to the Antarctica every year for hunting. Factory ships were not used by Japan until the 1930s. As whale catches diminished in coastal waters, Japan looked to Antarctica. Toyo Hogei K.K. purchased the Norwegian factory ship,