“For myself, I was not so much angry with my father as stunned that I had formerly been so naive and unquestioning. What had I imagined happened out there? How had I imagined these whales met their deaths? Had I imagined that they passed away delicately of shock like the diamond dove fledgling I had once rescued from the cat? For although I understood in principle the technicalities of whaling - the harpooning, the chase to exhaustion, the necessity of a swift and vigorous lancing - I had never conceived, never understood, never imagined for one moment the horror of it all.”