diff --git a/whales.md b/whales.md deleted file mode 100644 index ee225e061512e009d3590154eb1f76c70b83d0df..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 --- a/whales.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,40 +0,0 @@ -it's the 1800s. there's a resource the whole world depends on. only way to get it - on the other side of the world, find and kill a biblical monster - -you can call me ishmail. because i'm gonna tell you about whales. - -# some whale basics - -whales are broadly divided into two kinds: toothed whales and baleen whales. -toothed whales have teeth (duh), baleen whales have a flexible filter-feeding system also named baleen. -baleen is derived from latin balaena, related to greek phalaina, all of which mean 'whale', making baleen whale - whale whale - -a notable whale species is sperm whale (like moby dick, or pearl from sponge bob). -inside its square head, there's a highly sought after liquid called spermacite. -sperm whale is actually short for spermacite whale. spermacite means whale sperm. so spermacite whale is a whale sperm whale. -spermacite is a thick waxy substance that is speculated to aid with buyancy, however it cannot be confirmed because sperm whales hate us now. -but it definitely isn't sperm. - -# whale products - -once a whale is caught, whalers peel its skin like an orange, and boil the blubber into whale oil. -whale meat gets harvested for food. bones are sometimes ground into fertilizer - -sperm whales get scalped and have spermacite extracted from the junk. -(junk is the actual name of the part of their heads that house the liquid, i swear.) -spermacite is brought to land, where it's chilled over winter, and later squeezed into sperm oil. -solid leftovers were bleached and sold as spermaceti wax. - -baleen is also called whalebone, despite being closer to nails or hair than bone in structure. -baleen is harvested from the whale's mouth, and used wherever a thin flexible material can be used. -most famously, it was used for clothes construction - corserts, stays, bustles, crinolines etc. - -whalers collect toothed whale's teeth and carve them to pass the time (it's either that or homoeroticism). - -ambergris is fossilized bowel secretions of sperm whales. it's speculated to be a reaction to bowel irritations. - - - -in 1590s, dutch explorers stumble upon whales while exploring the arctic, and promptly establish a monopoly on whaling for the next century. britain and france scramble to compete, going full throttle on colonization. -britain gets scammed into colonizing the bermudas by (false) promises of whales, ambergris and pearls. it took them over 50 years to catch their first whale. - -so by the industrial revolution, multiple world powers have whaling industries, and whale products like whale oil diff --git a/whales.tex b/whales.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4204cc051de0c4e09a6472cfcf1f20ffea9d27bd --- /dev/null +++ b/whales.tex @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +\chapter{The Bodies of Giants} + +It's the 1800s, and the whole world depends on one resource. +The only way to get it -- go to the other side of the world, then find and kill a Biblical monster. +You can call me Ishmail, because I'm gonna tell you about whales. + +\begin{multicols}{2} + +\subsubsection{Some Whale Basics} + +Whales are broadly divided into two kinds: toothed whales and baleen whales. +Toothed whales have teeth, baleen whales have a flexible filter-feeding system, also named baleen. +Baleen is derived from Latin \textit{balaena}, related to Greek \textit{phalaina}, all of which mean `whale', making `baleen whale' -- `whale whale'. + +A notable whale species is sperm whale (like \textit{Moby Dick}, or Pearl from \textit{Sponge Bob}). +Inside its square head, there's a highly sought after liquid called spermacite. +`Sperm whale' is actually short for `spermacite whale'. +`Spermacite' means `whale sperm'. +So `spermacite whale' means `whale sperm whale'. +`Spermacite' is a thick, waxy substance that is speculated to aid with bouyancy, however it cannot be confirmed because sperm whales hate us now. +But it definitely isn't sperm. + +\subsubsection{Whale Products} + +Once a whale is caught, whalers peel its skin like an orange, and boil the blubber into whale oil. +Whale meat gets harvested for food. +Bones are sometimes ground into fertilizer + +Sperm whales get scalped and have spermacite extracted from the junk +(`junk' is the actual name of the part of their heads that house the liquid). +Spermacite is brought to land, where it's chilled over Winter, and later squeezed into sperm oil. +Solid leftovers were bleached and sold as spermacite wax. + +Baleen is also called `whalebone', despite being closer to nails or hair than bone in structure. +Baleen is harvested from the whale's mouth, and used wherever a thin flexible material can be used. +Most famously, it was used for clothes' construction -- corsets, stays, bustles, crinolines, et c. + +Whalers collect toothed whales' teeth and carve them to pass the time (it's either that or homoeroticism). + +Ambergris is fossilized bowel secretions of sperm whales. +It's speculated to be a reaction to bowel irritations. + +\end{multicols}