Andrew is a freelance marine biologist in North Carolina focused on population and conservation genetics in hydrothermal vent communities.
David is a graduate student in Florida. He studies the ecology and conservation of sharks.
Amy is a graduate student in North Carolina studying local ecological knowledge within small scale fisheries.
Chuck is a graduate student in North Carolina focusing on apex predators and how they interact with fisheries.
Lyndell is a graduate student in North Carolina, studying the feeding ecology of cownose rays.
Iris is a graduate student in Washington studying habitat use and feeding habits of juvenile Pacific salmon and herring in Puget Sound.
Michael is a graduate student in Maryland investigating the visual systems of mantis shrimp.
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By Andrew David Thaler, on November 16th, 2010
Chapter 32 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale.
Cetology
Let this be the book of the whale,
chronicle of tortured naturalists.
For who could fathom those great depths
and plum the drum of waves on hull
without a loyal oath, Leviathan!
Lord tyrant of the sea, Sperm Whale!
and this is his kingdom, his loyal court.
Let it first be said, before numbering
the pages of his family
that as certain as they swim in the sea,
the whale is no more than a fish.
A fish remarkable in its warm blood
and lungs, that drive it to the surface,
but, Linnaeus be damned, it is a fish!
These are the three books of the whales’ novel.
Each divided again into
a bookbinder’s twisted taxonomy.
The largest of all, Folios,
those of middling magnitude, Octavoes,
the smallest, duodecimo.
Beyond them, the whales of myth and fable.
FOLIO, Chapter 1, Sperm Whale
Most formidable of all whales
and most valuable.
Within his head, spermaceti,
the richest oil.
FOLIO, Chapter 2, Right Whale
The bearer of whalebone, baleen.
First to be hunted.
Its tortured taxonomy lies
entangled with doubt.
FOLIO, Chapter 3, Fin Back
This solitary, curse-ed Cain,
swims always alone.
The whales, in all their forms, deny
classification.
FOLIO, Chapter 4, Hump Back
Joyful, but worthless.
FOLIO, Chapter 5, Razor Back
Unknown to Melville
and an enigma to modern
cetologists, none
have seen anything but his back.
FOLIO, Chapter 6, Sulfur Bottom
The Blue Whale, never
chased by whale men of Nantucket.
OCTAVO, Chapter 1, Grampus
Small in stature, rich in oil.
His arrival heralds the sperm,
His larger twin.
OCTAVO, Chapter 2, Black Fish
Fine oil for a smaller whale.
He approaches as a pilot
over the shoals.
OCTAVO, Chapter 3, Narwhal
The polar beast bears a lone horn
to split the icy northern sea.
Curious beast.
OCTAVO, Chapter 4, Killer
“The killer is never hunted.”
It is a poor choice for a name,
for at sea, we are all killers.
OCTAVO, Chapter 5, Thresher
A flogger of beasts,
the leviathans’ task-master.
DOUDECIMOES – Porpoises
The great whale in miniature.
Some come rich in oil and meat,
but of their families, nothing
is certain.
This is but a poor system for naming
and many whales are yet to be counted,
nor will they ever be.
We shall number them as we boil them
and know them only by lamplight
and the stains left in our try-pots.
By Andrew David Thaler, on November 11th, 2010
Chapter 31 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale.
Queen Mab
There is wisdom yet in the dreams of fools
who question their master, wrathful Ahab
and take to heart a blow by ivory leg.
In the fragile heart of Stubb’s fitful sleep
to be struck by Ahab is an insult
and great honor, no finer man could strike.
“Wise Stubb,” cries the marlin-spiked old humpback
rising from the sea, a royal blessing
in the poor sailor’s tormented slumber.
To Flask, the dream is nothing but foolish.
The Captain will not be challenged. He calls
“keep watch for a white whale and follow me!”
into madness.
By Andrew David Thaler, on November 9th, 2010
Chapter 30 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale.
The Pipe
This is the rage of the Captain, the king,
no more can he find solace in smoke,
the serenity of the pipe
no longer his, he toils
forcing the fog that soothes
angry minds and stills
unquiet men.
He casts it
into
the sea.
The flame
is gone.
By Andrew David Thaler, on November 8th, 2010
By Andrew David Thaler, on November 4th, 2010
Chapter 29 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale.
Enter Ahab; to him, Stubb
Greybeards – for those who walk the deck at night,
the sky is the solitude, by Ahab,
fragmented, broken, scarred, is ill at ease.
Below, only death, the creaking coffin
of the Pequod’s hull, darkness. Ahab’s tomb
lies beneath the deck, and so he paces.
A peg is not a prop to pace at night.
Each step echoes against the planks, haunting
the dreams of men that are buried below.
Thus emerges Stubb, to beg the Captain
to muffle his post. rage flashes acoss
Ahab’s furrowed brow.
No man of dog would dare to deliver
such a foolish plea.
To a man such as he, Ahab’s Fury
takes root.
By Andrew David Thaler, on November 2nd, 2010
Chapter 28 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale.
Ahab
It was the knights that ran the ship in those
first many days, well-suited to the task.
Even at sea, no phantom captain seen.
And the, one morning with the changing shift,
Captain Ahab appeared upon the deck,
a sea-foam scar racing across his face
His leg, the polished jaw of a sperm whale,
taken from him off the coast of Japan,
Yet more solid than a sailor’s sea legs.
Into the deck of the Pequod were bored
Slots for his peg to fit, Captain and ship,
had become one in their infernal fate.
By Andrew David Thaler, on October 31st, 2010
Chapter 26 and 27 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale.
Knights and Squires
A fearless man is far more dangerous,
and the first mate, Starbuck, will take no man
into his boat that does not fear the whale.
For his harpooner, he choses Queequeg.
The knight, Starbuck, with Queequeg’s spear.
To be so comfortable with destruction
that danger is met with indifference
is to be the second mate, careless Stubb.
For his harpooner, tawny Tashtego.
Sir Stubb with Tashtego’s arrows.
Last is a man fashioned of wrought iron,
hunting for fun, no reverence for whales.
Flask, third among the crew, built to endure.
For his harpooner, the giant Daggoo.
The empty Flask with Daggoo’s arms.
These were the knights, the whaling men,
and their squires, their harpooners.
Each stands alone on their island,
Together on the Pequod’s deck.
By Andrew David Thaler, on October 28th, 2010
Chapter 25 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale.
Postscript
In the casting of their coronation,
kings and queens are baptized in the oil
of the richest whale. Their blood moves nations.
By Andrew David Thaler, on October 28th, 2010
 http://www.smbc-comics.com/ Of course, spermaceti oil isn’t actually in their brain but rather in a special chamber in their cranium. Makes great candles though.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
By Andrew David Thaler, on October 26th, 2010
Chapter 24 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale.
The Advocate
Poetry is ill suited for whaling.
Society burns on the blood of whales
yet spurns the butchers. We are all butchers.
Look across the pages of history,
rejoice! The glory of harpoon and man,
in chasing the whale we swallowed the world
as Jonah, by that first leviathan.
The wealth of nations from that royal fish.
Legacy of kings and kindred nobles.
For the whale itself is the dignity
of the southern sky, Cetus. Let no man
have honor lest he kneel before Queequeg.
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