Payback, Whale Style...!

We just keep on messing and messing with Mother Nature, until She finally gets a little payback!

This was the case here. I'd be willing to bet that none of these survivors ever went whaling again!

Nov 20, 1820:

American vessel sunk by sperm whale

The American whaler Essex, which hailed from Nantucket, Massachusetts, is attacked by an 80-ton sperm whale 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America.

The 238-ton Essex was in pursuit of sperm whales, specifically the precious oil and bone that could be derived from them, when an enraged bull whale rammed the ship twice and capsized the vessel. The 20 crew members escaped in three open boats, but only five of the men survived the harrowing 83-day journey to the coastal waters of South America, where they were picked up by other ships. Most of the crew resorted to cannibalism during the long journey, and at one point men on one of the long boats drew straws to determine which of the men would be shot in order to provide sustenance for the others. Three other men who had been left on a desolate Pacific island were saved later.

The first capture of a sperm whale by an American vessel was in 1711, marking the birth of an important American industry that commanded a fleet of more than 700 ships by the mid 18th century. Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick (1851) was inspired in part by the story of the Essex.

Whaling has never been a pretty business, and the old ways of taking and dressing whales bloody and brutal at best. I'm sure there was more than just one case of a big whale attacking and sinking a ship.

One thing about it...these sailors paid a very dear price for their part in this misadventure!

Coffee on the patio this morning. I hope it's going to be a little rainy this morning!