The Whaleship Essex: Real-life Moby Dick Sink...

Part two of the autumn 2026 edition of Unearthed! kicks off with the catch-all potpourri category, then covers edibles and potables, shipwrecks, art, and Halloween-appropriate topics. Research: Almeroth-Williams, Thomas. “Henry VIII’s dissolution enforcer stashed Catholic manuscr ...  Show more

Part one of this autumn edition of Unearthed! covers updates, medical finds, animals, and lots books and letters. Research: Almeroth-Williams, Thomas. “Henry VIII’s dissolution enforcer stashed Catholic manuscript – its lost pages have just been rediscovered.” EurekAlert. 9/16/20 ...  Show more

Today, Herman Melville's magnum opus Moby Dick is lauded as a classic of American literature -- but it turns out Melville didn't invent the whole thing on his own. In the first part of this special two-part series, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the story of a real-life white whale ...  Show more

The ill-fated whale-ship The Essex, was rammed by an 85-foot sperm whale on 20th November, 1820. The incident inspired Herman Melville’s sea-faring novel, Moby Dick. Left to fend for themselves in tiny whaling boats, the young crew had to make terrible choices in order to preserv ...  Show more

Captain George Pollard Jr. was just 29 years old when his whaling vessel, the Essex, met with disaster. As the hapless crew struggled (and largely failed) to survive their horrific time at sea, they encountered starvation, madness, exposure and some fates arguably worse than deat ...  Show more

In the final episode of our whale series, we learn about fecal plumes, shipping noise, and why "Moby-Dick" is still worth reading. (Part 3 of "Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.") ...