A mysterious organ in the sperm whale’s head gives it the power to sink ships

In all three cases when a whale attacked the mother ship, the attacker was a sperm whale. In 1851, in the South Pacific, a sperm whale charged the Ann Alexander and completely wrecked it. In 1902, too, a sperm whale wrecked the Kathleen, which was sailing off the Galapagos Islands. But it was the fate of the Essex that became perhaps the most infamous survival ordeal in maritime history.