WE SEEK A CLASSIC sea monster: the sperm whale, the archetypal whale of human imagination, Jonah-slurping Leviathan of the Bible, catastrophic smasher of the ship Essex, Ahab-maddening table-turning star quarry of Moby-Dick. In myth, real life, and fiction, this is the whale that looms largest in our psyches.#2434•
For centuries, whales have represented things. They've represented commerce, jobs. Adventure. Money. Danger. Tradition and pride. They've represented light and food. They are raw material, like iron ore or petroleum, from which many products can be made. And for all these things, whales have been targets. Men saw in whales everything—except whales themselves.#2444•