In the 19th century,
oil from the whales' massive heads
could make great fortunes.
Whalemen targeted the calves first,
knowing the rest of the pod
would soon come to their aid
and into the range of the harpoons.
But for one ship,
the whales got their revenge.
Without warning,
a huge bull rammed the hull of the 87-foot Essex.
Within days,
the broken ship was lost to the deep.
With their ship gone,
the 21 survivors squeezed into three whaleboats, 21
which now became their lifeboats.
The men salvaged what they could,
but they were woefully ill-equipped
for the trials that lay ahead.
The survivors of the Essex were in virtually unexplored waters, EsseX
2,000 miles west of South America on the equator,
almost as far from land as it's possible to be.
They were about to find out just how challenging survival in the South Pacific can be.