Write a journal entry from the point-of-view of Nickerson, Pollard or Chase. Thoroughly explore the question of WHY the whale attacked the Essex. Don't just RETELL what happened. Do support your explanation with details.
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Cpt. Pollard, 01/23/1723
ReplyDeleteAs Owen hammered his whaleboat, I could hear it from my own. I had a feeling that it would attract something, many aquatic animals do communicate by sound. However, I didn't anticipate a father male. As he spurred up from the ocean waves I could see something in his eyes. He was curious, but Owen gave the order to harpoon it. He missed, but I knew the whale wasn't absent just yet. Surely enough, he came back around with an angry ram to the boat. I figured he had to have sensed danger after the harpoon headed in his direction. He came back around again after picking up a few knots, this time sinking the ship with the blow to the hull.
Note to self: hammer lightly.
Dylan A.M. 12/01/09
From the Diary of Owen Chase
ReplyDeleteI saw the whale emerge from the ocean, it was the largest I had ever seen or heard of. It looked to be the size of about 1/3 of the boat. In a rage of glory I took to the broken boats an attempted to fix them by using brute force. It must have known that my intention was to kill the giant piece of gold. It began to charge the boat and hit the bottom of the boat, which was weak from the time at sea. It was like nothing had ever heard of the whale shamed the bottom of the ship and started small leaks in the floor. I took a spear and took aim but realized that killing the whale would cause a fit of the beast’s tail that would sink the ship so I put the lance down. Then in front of my own eyes the whale took of turned around and attacked the boat again. I noticed that there were lots of scares on his head, I knew that this whale had anger inside of him and the intention of sinking the boat. The whale hit the boat and the ship gave way sinking in ten minutes we all got on the three small whale boats and said good bye to our dear boat the Essex
i Like Dylan's narrative a lot
Christopher Lindberg 12/1/09
Diary of Thomas Nickerson,
ReplyDeleteChase was banning on his boat nailing canvas onto the hole that was in the boat so he asked me to take charge of the boat and so I did. The next thing I new when I turned around I saw a whale and it was not your normal size whale it was a whale probably 3 times as big as a regular whale that we can get, and he is just drifting there minding his own business. So we get ready to attack the whale when all of the sudden I feel this rush of wind and I turn around and the whale is charging at us. Before I could say anything everyone was already panicking to get the whale, then the whale keeps coming for us and rams the boat. We were all very shocked that a whale rammed the boat this was the first time for it to happen. The whale was then mellow for a second and then picked up speed again and rammed us for a second time. The boat had taken a lot from this whale and I did not think she could take it any more. The whale was right next to the boat and Chase could finally get him, but he decided not to because the whale was to close to the boat for him to kill the whale. The whale then hit us and the boat began to sink and we had to save the food and last 3 whale boats. We saved them and drifted into the water and watched the Essex sink with all of the oil and whale blubber that we had into the bottom of the ocean.
Nicole 12/1/09
I was hammering the side of the boat doing repairs. as a sperm whale came around, i suppose it was a male. it was the biggest whale iv ever seen, around 80 tons. whales communicate by clicking. while i was hammering i could have made the noise of another bull whale. the whale was thinking i was an enemy and rammed into the side of the boat. it had started a few small leaks in the bottom of the boat. As the whale circled back i decided to take aim with the harpoon and fired. i had missed the whale by a couple yards, the whale saw the harpoon. it turned around and got up to a high speed then it rammed the boat one last time. this time it was in the hull and it was a much greater blow. the whale had sunk the essex and swam away.
ReplyDeleteI also like Dylan's
Ben smith (through the eyes of owen chase)
diary of owen chase
ReplyDeleteAs i was helping repair the boats i looked out into the ocean, and out of the corner of my eye i see a huge object in the water. I go to look closer and see that it is a huge whale, one bigger then i have ever seen. So our crew decided to try and get the whale. But the whale got very agry and ramed our boat. I tried to get it with a harpoon but missed and then circled back around to ram it for a second time, but this time even harder. As he hit us for a second time the bost begain to sink so we had to hurry and gather all of the food and get one the last 3 boats that we had. And the the Essex along with all of the whale oil was gone to the bottom of the sea.
Petra Callo 12-1-09
Owen Chase Journal Entry:
ReplyDeleteAs I walked onto the deck of the ship I looked over the edge and saw this huge figure in the water that looked like a shadow approaching the boat. This whale was about a third of the boats size. It got very close increasing speed, until it rammed the boat and caused a ferocious impact. I looked over the edge and the whale was stunned, so I quickly jumped and grabbed the harpoon. I ran over and was prepared to throw the harpoon at the whale with all my might, but then it came to me that if I do that it could cause the whale to attack the boat further. I decided not to throw the harpoon, because the result could be tremendous if I do. A looked the Whales head and it appeared the it had many scars on its head which could mean that it has evaded or destroyed many attacking whalers. This Whale has had experience with whalers, and was ready to attack the boat when it figured out what we were doing. I think that the reason it attacked was because it knew our motive and it was purely in self defense that it attacked us.
Jamie Gates 12/01/09
(From the diary of Thomas Nickerson,)
ReplyDeleteAs I dutifully took control over the helm of the Essex, I saw for the first time the largest sperm whale, quite possibly ever sighted, just yards away from Pollard and Joy's crew. A sense of panic soon came over me, when I realized Chase was out of sight, attempting to repair the damage done to our ship, all the while I was left to judge how to best evaluate the dangers of this situation. This massive whale was acting strangely, and from what I could recall, whales were particularly sensitive to underwater sounds. Reflecting on this situation from my present state, I believe it was in fact Chase's frantic hammering that must have been sensed by the whale, thus, encouraging it's strange reaction. What chaos! Suddenly the whale rammed the frontchains of the Essex and within seconds a horrendous attack ensued. The events that ensued, would forever scar my memory...
Taylor Kristianasen 12/02/09
Owen Chase.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest whale I had ever seen in my entire life, I'm even sure that none of the crew had laid their eyes on such a beast.
The whale was rather big, and this creature could wipe out the entire crew by a couple of hits against our boat.
We had worked on the boat, and it crossed my mind that the noise from my hammer might have made it a little mad.
I stood on the far edge, I had a clear view to it, but I hesitated, and lost my chance.
The forehead on this creature was terrifying, all the scars showed us that this whale was familiar with fighting, and it wouldn't give up without a battle.
The reason for the attack might have been that the hammer made noise, or that the whale just knew what we were gonna do to it, so it acted in panic and rage.
Diary of Thomas Nickerson.
ReplyDeleteAs I watched the crew sail out i headed to the front end of the Essex to get a better view. I saw a monstrosity of a gray body, just lazily floating in the water. As Pollards boat neared the beast it dove under the water. We could not see the animal for a few seconds. All of a sudden the whale whipped it tail in the water and sped up towards the boat! It was going to collide with us! Then....BAM! The whole boat lurched and we tilted a little bit. I thought we were going to tip! As the monstrosity glided beneath us I instinctively grabbed a lance and thought about stabbing the whale in the head. I saw the marred head but thought to myself, "What if the whale gets even madder and comes at us again?" I decided not to, just in case. I don't know what caused the wale to act this way but I have a feeling it had something to do with Pollard and his crew a few seconds before the whale rammed us!
Hunter
Thomas Nickerson
ReplyDeleteWhile on course I spotted a grey figure in the water. As we approached, it disappeared and all of a sudden a huge whale rammed into the ship with an immense force. I was about to lance the beast but thought it best not to. Why would it do such a thing? All I could think of was that it must be protecting something.
Asa Kuhn 12/7/09