A Discovery with a Link to 'Moby Dick'

In Pacific discovery, traces of Nantucket and ‘Moby-Dick'. (Boston Globe, 2/11/2011)

Excerpt: Remains of an 1800s Nantucket whaling ship with a poignant tie to the book “Moby-Dick’’ have been discovered on a remote reef almost 600 miles northwest of Honolulu.

The Two Brothers is the first wrecked Nantucket whaler to be discovered, and the chance find illuminates an era when close to 150 whaling ships from this tiny island set out across the world’s oceans in search of the lucrative oil extracted from blubber and left behind the near-extinction of many whale species.

While marine archeologists are ecstatic at the information they hope to glean from the coral-encrusted cooking pots and blubber hooks, the artifacts also complete the tale of a famously cursed captain: George Pollard Jr., who had commanded the Essex, the whaler from Nantucket that was sunk by an enraged sperm whale and inspired Herman Melville to write his classic novel.

Then there's this version.



Definitely worth a visit.