Database Joy!

I realize this may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I was excited to discover the Whaling History website, a collaboration between Mystic Seaport Museum and New Bedford Whaling Museum.  The site contains databases of information on American, British, and French offshore whaling expeditions. 

In the American database, I typed the search term 'Essex' and found a list of all the whaling voyages made by a ship of that name.  Scanning the dates, I was able to locate the entry for the voyage of THE Essex, the one sunk by a whale, whose famous story is said to have influenced Melville in writing Moby Dick. 

Here's a glimpse of the database entry for that voyage:

"Stove by a whale and sunk, Nov, 1820" - wow!  The thrill of information!