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In The Heart Of The Sea Analysis

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In the time of The Essex and In the Heart of the Sea, Nantucket had a population of about 7,000, most of the population living along a road on a rising hill marked with windmills and church steeples. At the waterfront, four large docks extended more than 100 yards into the sea from the harbor. Tied up to these docks were typically 15 to 20 whale ships, along with dozens of other small fishing boats and ships that carried trade goods to and from the island.The first whaling boats were only 20 feet long, launched from beaches along the island’s south shore. Usually a boat would comprise of five Wampanoag (Nantucket Natives) and a white man steering the boat. These boats were only used for whaling around the island, as the had to be rowed back …show more content…

They found their new target in that of the sperm whale. The oil found in the sperm whale’s blubber was far superior to that of the right whale found around Nantucket, providing a brighter and cleaner-burning light, but its block-shaped head contained a much larger reservoir of this oil. This is where the wealth of the island came from, nowadays Nantucket has a population of about 20,000 which, during the summer, increases to about 50,000. The evidence of the island's former glory can still be seen along the upper reaches of the town’s Main Street, where the cobbles dip and rise like the sea and where the houses evoke the humble spirituality of the island’s Quaker past. The whaling business of the 1800’s gave Nantucket it's incredible wealth. An average house in Nantucket costs more than in other vacation destinations such as Long Island's Hamptons, with much of the population living there only part time. Nantucket still has a large pull towards the ocean, with a large harbor and fishing boats coming and going. Yet whaling is a thing of the past due to fishing regulations and laws, so without this Nantucketers embrace the island's past and head to the sea in hopes of the biggest fish they can

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