July 20, 2019 - Chapter Seventy-four


In this chapter and the next, we’re treated to a comparison of the heads of sperm whales and right whales, now that the two are both on board the Pequod. There’s not much to say about this chapter, so I thought I’d focus on a minor detail; i.e., how is it that whales with eyes on the opposite sides of their heads see? It turns out that Ishmael is not too far off the mark here. As you can see in the below image, what’s not seen by the whale is generally what is directly in front of it. That said, it can cover quite a bit of what’s on either side.


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