In August of 1819, the Essex set sail from the island of Nantucket to the whaling grounds of the south Pacific. In June of 1821, less than half of the crew returned, with a horrific tale of a whale attack and months adrift at sea. On this episode, we're discussing sperm whales, whale oil processing, survival cannibalism, a series of terrible decisions (and one great one), and why Herman Melville's book 'Moby Dick' is so incredibly boring.

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Sources for this episode include:

"In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex", by N. Philbrick, 2000

“Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex", by O. Chase, 1821

"The face that sank the Essex: potential function of the spermaceti organ in aggression" article by D. Carrier, et all, for Journal of Experimental Biology, 2002