In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

By November, the Essex was nearing Cape Horn at the southern tip of Africa. Dealing with bad weather and great storms, the crew took more than a month to round the Horn and enter the waters off the coast of Chile. After several fruitless months in this area, they finally met with success near Peru, boiling down close to 500 barrels of oil in barely two months.

In springtime, the crew happened to meet the whaleship Aurora, which was carrying mail, some of it for Essex crewmembers. Pollard also spoke with the Aurora’s captain about a whaling ground that had been found just two years ago. The captain told Pollard about Captain George Washington Gardner, who “had headed farther out to sea in 1818 than any other Nantucket whaleship had so far dared to go. More than a thousand miles off the coast of Peru he hit the mother lode, an expanse of ocean full of sperm whales” (67). Hearing this news, Pollard determined that the ship would stock up on provisions before leaving for this section of the Pacific.

On October 2, the Essex set sail for the Galapagos, killing several more whales along the way and bringing their total haul to almost half of their goal.