MOBY: A Whale of a Tale

Our story, adapted from Herman Melville's Moby Dick, takes place in 1840 - that’s 181 years ago. Back then, there was no electricity. There were only candles to light homes, and oil lamps to light streets at night. In order to have oil for the lamps, there was a big business of hunting whales to use their blubber to make the oil. In 1986, whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission because whales were becoming endangered. However, many countries still hunt whales for commercial gain, and because of this, in addition to pollution and climate change, whales are still in danger of being extinct.

Some Indigenous communities around the world hunt whales for nutritional and cultural purposes. This is a different type of whaling than commercial whaling, because it is rooted in tradition and survival, and every single part of the whale is used. Blubber is eaten as a traditional meal.

In our story, the whaling ship on which the action takes place is named The Pequod. The origin of this name is from The Pequot, a Native American people of Connecticut, who in the 17th century became nearly extinct by white colonizers. 

We acknowledge the deep history behind humans and whales, the different origins of whaling, and the current environmental concerns our oceans face. 

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