What species of whale was moby dick?
Moby Dick was a sperm whale–sperm whales were the whales hunted most avidly by 19th century American whalers, for their high-quality oil. He could NOT have been a humpback or other baleen whale, because he is described as being a toothed whale. Sperm whales, like killer whales, are toothed whales. He could not have been a killer whale, however, because they weren’t hunted by American whalers, and just weren’t big enough to attack a ship, as Moby Dick is described as doing. Therefore, he was a sperm whale. Here’s a useful reference at Wikipedia to confirm: http://en.wikipedia.
