This was a 151-minute documentary on American Experience (Into the Deep) that was absolutely terrific. I had to watch it twice and enjoyed it greatly. It starts with a disaster in which a whaling ship , the Essex, is destroyed by a giant sperm whale in 1819 and the few surviving sailors survive only by cannibalism, covers Melville's Moby Dick, and tells the history of American whaling. Fascinating. Watchable on PBS.org. If you have any interest whatever in whaling, don't miss it.
