Peleg Nye: The Jonah of Cape Cod

Have you ever heard the story of whaling captain Peleg Nye, who was thrown off the side of a boat and right into the mouth of a giant sperm whale? Miraculously, Nye lived to tell about it … Join author Nils Bockmann on Saturday, May 11 from 2:00-4:00 pm for a discussion about his book, Peleg Nye: The Jonah of Cape Cod, and the topic of whaling. In 1864, first mate Peleg Nye, veteran whale man and former whaling captain was climbing the chain of command aboard the George W. Lewis out of Provincetown. On this voyage, a captured sperm whale hit the bow of the whaleboat, sending Nye over the bow and into the leviathan’s closing mouth. Nye and the dying whale slipped beneath the surface, Nye's twitching legs protruding between its teeth. Thanks to his captain's makeshift medical skills, Nye survived. He returned home eight months later as an immediate celebrity, and thus was known as the "Jonah of Cape Cod." Nye's story is historical fact, authenticated by the captain's logbook held in the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s Kendall Collection. The meticulous research of author Nils Bockmann reveals the complex world of nineteenth-century whalers and the savage industry they served.