I teach literature at a classical charter school and I'm working through Moby Dick with my 11th graders presently. In chapter 81 of the book, one of the ship's mates comments that a large, ancient whale they are pursuing is worth ~$3000.
Historically, how much money would a whaling ship bring in from this time period, assuming they had a decent run of luck with encountering, harpooning and processing whales?
According to Jenkins History of the Whale Fisheries the whaler Lagoda made 12 voyages between 1841 and 1886. Ten made a profit, two were a loss. The total net gain to the owners was $652,000, and even with the two losses ( and greatly varying price of whale oil) the voyages gave an average monthly profit of 8.25%: and these were whaling expeditions lasting several years. So, $3,000 for that whale is quite possible.