# Did Melville indicate how big Moby Dick was?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-melville-indicate-how-big-moby-dick-was/710301>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 19, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-melville-indicate-how-big-moby-dick-was/710301 "2015-01-19T18:36:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-melville-indicate-how-big-moby-dick-was/710301/21 "2015-01-20T08:25:01Z")

</div>

> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> [I have a question about this painting](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--YYlpabPr2s/TtP7H-LExFI/AAAAAAAAApI/IUlWTIAtnaI/s1600/moby%2Bdick%2Bimage.jpg). Are the proportions anywhere near correct, or is this whale’s size exaggerated?
> 
> (My untrained sense of proportion is that the whale is much too large, and the painting is exaggerated for dramatic purposes. Also, it’s a very impressive painting!)

That’s not a painting; it’s digital artwork by Chih-Han Hsu. I’m not sure about the whale itself but the figures in the foreground look to be 3D models.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-melville-indicate-how-big-moby-dick-was/710301/22 "2015-01-20T17:41:46Z")

</div>

> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> So how big was Moby Dick’s Dick?
> 
> 😃

presumably at least as long as a Kentuckian is tall

[Chapter 95 - The Cassock](http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/42/moby-dick/776/chapter-95-the-cassock/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-melville-indicate-how-big-moby-dick-was/710301/23 "2015-01-20T18:03:20Z")

</div>

> [@psychonaut](#):
>
> That’s not a painting; it’s digital artwork by Chih-Han Hsu. I’m not sure about the whale itself but the figures in the foreground look to be 3D models.

[http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/9538/5d9d.jpg](http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/9538/5d9d.jpg)  
[http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/295/c/e/megafauna\_size\_comparison\_mk2\_by\_harry\_the\_fox-d2xt9nb.jpg](http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/295/c/e/megafauna_size_comparison_mk2_by_harry_the_fox-d2xt9nb.jpg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-melville-indicate-how-big-moby-dick-was/710301/24 "2015-01-20T18:13:15Z")

</div>

Sometimes a whale is just a whale.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-melville-indicate-how-big-moby-dick-was/710301/25 "2015-01-20T19:08:51Z")

</div>

> [@MsKaren](#):
>
> “There she blows!-there she blows! A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby Dick!” so as big as a snow-hill at the hump. 🙂

IIRC that it turned out that sailor had actually spotted a giant squid, not the White Whale. Again, IIRC the squid is neither aggressive nor afraid of humans and everybody is a little freaked out.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-melville-indicate-how-big-moby-dick-was/710301.md?page=1)