Ishmael, played by Richard Basehart in the 1956 film based on Herman Melville's Moby Dick

Ishamael is the narrator of this great seafaring tale, uttering the immortal words:

"Call me Ismael."

Ishmael is the only survivor of the Pequod sailing ship sinking, a sailor on his first voyage who is left to tell the tale in Herman Melville's literary masterpiece Moby Dick.

Gregory Peck gives an outstanding performance as Captain Ahab, the obsessed master of the Pequod, in the 1956 movie: Moby Dick.

The Pequod, triple masted whaling sailing ship in Herman Melville's Moby Dick

A BIT OF HISTORY

Moby Dick is the story of a great white sperm whale that fought back at whalers who tried to harpoon him. The idea came to Herman Melville after he spent time on a commercial whaler, where stories abounded of the sinking of the Essex in 1821 and Mocha Dick, a giant sperm whale that sank around 20 ships, before being harpooned in 1838.

Moby Dick has inspired a great many adaptations, the same basic story finding its way into the making of four films and two television adaptations.

In addition there are many comics and illustrated volumes, adapted from the original, one of which is the emerging graphic novel version of a large humpback whale called Kulo Luna.

Kulo Luna is not as big as the whales depicted in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, but she has a diamond encrusted heart of gold, only attacking whaling ships that present a danger to herself or her friends.

Herman Melville was the author of what we'd now consider an illegal activity, the commercial hunting of whales for oil and meat.

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