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
Anti-whaling area and another ship, the MV "Fisher" (formerly the MV "Yashima Maru"), was also being refitted for whaling and was registered in Panama. Nick Carter, his colleague Nan Rice, and many other conservationists personally urged Colin Eglin to act while international environmental organizations pressured the government for an official inquiry. When port authorities ordered all South African nationals off of the "Fisher", a foreign crew took the ship to the Canary Islands and it was renamed the "Astrid". Soon after, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society distributed wanted posters advertising a $25,000 reward to anyone who would sink it. Andrew Behr