The colossal sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales along with a most odd looking lump. That's simply because its head is a third as heavy and big as its tapering body. The huge front end contains the largest of all animal brains along with a huge sac of oil called spermaceti. Its blow-hole is situated on the tip of its head about the left-hand side. This gives the whale a distinctive 45-degree angled blow. The adult sperm whale's bottom jaw is narrow and lined on each side with 20-25 15cm-long teeth. Females have smaller and fewer teeth - sometimes none. The lower jaw looks flimsy compared to the upper jaw, which sticks out beyond it. But it is strong enough to deter sharks, snap whalers' rowing boats in half and to make short work of giant squid - the whale's prime prey. To discover squid sperm whales must dive into deep water. This species is discovered in all the oceans from the world even though only solitary bulls venture into polar waters. The basis of sperm whale society is the herd of females and young. Calves remain with their mother feeding and growing in warm waters such as the Caribbean.…
An idea of this is Romanticism promoted anti rationalism and rebellion against the strict forms and the emphasis placed on reason during the enlightenment. An example of this from “In the heart of the Sea” is, again, when Chase does not harpoon the whale. Pollard thinks that Chase is being unreasonable when he doesn’t kill the whale but chase doesn’t care. He knows that he just saved his crew from being killed. Another idea of this tenet is that truth could be found within oneself or perceived…
self-reliant character and partly because he is obsessed with the thought of capturing the white whale, to the extent that he does. Ishmael explains that to those who do not understand whaling and whales in general, attempting to chart where they will be in a giant ocean appears to be hopeless. He responds to this by saying, “but not so did it seem to Ahab, who knew the sets of all tides and currents; and thereby calculating the driftings of the sperm whale’s food; and, also, calling to mind the…
in which a captain’s obsession with a monstrous whale radiates of to his crew. These two stories are both similar, yet different in ways to be told. The true question is can man survive the attacks nature has in store for both men in both stories. In the Heart of the Sea, the real life encounter of the famous Herman Melville’s story Moby Dick. This book now film, tells the survival story of the men of the Essex, which was a whale hunting ship sent from Nantucket, which sadly did not return to…
In contrast to most sea creatures, these unique critters “live on the skeletons of whales, which drift down to the ocean floor” (Ennis). Because zombie worms are attached to the whale bones, they must use them to contribute to their diet. These ocean animals “lack a mouth and gut, [so] the worms drill into the bones [to] extract the stored nutrients” (Ennis). Without this adaptation, zombie worms would starve and die. Zombie worms also have an additional way to digest food through their bodies;…
Ongoing territorial disputes between the US and Canada in the Gulf of Maine 1. Summary After the series of International Court Decisions in 1979 and 1984 in the case concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary in the gulf of Maine area, the United Sates and Canada were left with a problem of a disputed territory that has still not been solved. The disputed territory which is often called the “gray zone” includes two islands - Machias Seal Island and North Rock (Collins & Rogoff, 1986).…
Some people may not believe this, but whales have been around for over 50 million years; however, they have not always like they do today (WGBH). Scientist have found over seven different species that whales could have originated from. Some species have had four legs with a furry tail; others have had two flippers and a blubbery tail (“The Evolution”) Here are some hypotheses for how whales have became whales: evolution (depending on religion and beliefs) or whales have just always been apart…
It’s 1848, Captain Horatio Dobbs and his whaling ship Princess a scouring the Pacific Ocean in search of the elusive Sperm Whale, his crew has been on a fruitless voyage for several months, not a whale in sight the reserves are running low and the ship has to make port to restock on rations. Suddenly, out of the vast blue expanse, an explosion of water, the Princess had stumbled upon a pod of Pacific Sperm Whales within minutes the small whaling boats a launched leaving only a skeleton crew on…
Whether Moby-Dick is a whale or a fish is a trifling matter—what is significant about it is that it is a great “white” whale. The color white is usually connected to innocence and purity; however, in “Moby-Dick”, the quintessentially white sperm whale defies the qualities attached to its color as Ahab sees it as the archetypal evil. In a novel overwhelmingly about whaling, Melville frequently explores colors and their meanings and use them to paint a picture of characters and sceneries in the…
in its corrugated back (69).” Every description seems to add to the sad and beautiful nature of the whale’s presence and their ultimate death. I thought the author did a great job telling the story in a way that was honoring to the whales, even as you see all these horrible things being done to them, “The rope began to cut into the whale’s flesh (71)” as they tried to move it, “scientists used chainsaws to cut the lower jaws off sperm whales that had died only a few feet from whales that were…