"WHITE WHALE"

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Terrestrial marine mammal (1950s era) (see comments)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Presumably others of its kind (see comments)

Enemies: Professor Mark Foray, Dr. Frank Weston, unidentified whalers

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile in the northern seas of Earth

First Appearance: Uncanny Tales I#53/6 (March, 1957)

Powers/Abilities: Somewhat resembling an immensely large beluga whale, the "White Whale" (gender unspecified) was a huge sea-mammal with great intellect and telepathic abilities.

 The "White Whale" loathed the human race, and it preferred to live in isolation from it.

Length: 60' (by approximation)
Weight: 80 tons (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: None

History:
(Uncanny Tales I#53/4 (fb) - BTS) - The origin of the "White Whale" (and others of its species) is unrevealed (see comments)--unknown to humans, these gigantic creatures had superior intellects, and they lived a peaceful and worry-free existence beneath the ocean.

   When some whalers sailed into their territory, an unspecified number of the whales attacked them--the men thought the giant cetaceans acted as though they were "almost human".

   At some point, Professor Mark Foray and Dr. Frank Weston went to a whaling harbor with their specially-modified boat. The two scientists planned to tranquilize a whale and measure the mental capacity of its brain, in the hopes that the information would lead to a better understanding of the human brain.

   A whaler told Foray and Weston about the earlier attack by the seemingly intelligent whales.

(Uncanny Tales I#53/4) - The next morning, Foray and Weston set sail aboard their boat for their research mission; the two scientists discussed the whaler's story, but they discounted it as merely being a fable.

   For weeks, the scientists cruised the northern seas in an unsuccessful search of a specimen for their experiment; but just as they were about to give up, they spotted a gigantic white whale surfacing and blowing. Foray shot the huge sea-mammal with an anesthetizing pellet to render it unconscious, then Weston attached two cables with electrode discs to the floating leviathan.

   Aboard their boat, the scientists activated an electronic device to record the sedated whale's brain capacity ratio--they were stunned when the readings on the instrument indicated that the creature's mental capacity was far beyond that of humans! Just then, the whale revived as the narcotic wore off, and the men "heard" a telepathic "voice" booming in their minds--the "voice" was that of the whale!

   The giant creature told the scientists that its species had achieved its ultimate destiny, and it berated the "puny humans," whose arrogance in their superiority led them to experiment with a mentality beyond their comprehension; the whale further chastised mankind for its pitiful civilization, and ordered the scientists to leave. But Foray and Weston were struck motionless by wonder and amazement, and they failed to maneuver their boat out of the way--as the whale dived below the ocean's surface, its tail fins smashed the boat to pieces, causing Foray and Weston to be thrown into the sea.

   But just then, a whaling vessel arrived--the whalers had been concerned about the scientists' extended absence, so they had been searching for them. The whalers fired their harpoon gun to discourage the gigantic creature away as they pulled the scientists out of the ocean--the "White Whale" swam away to parts unknown.

   Later, aboard the whaling vessel, Weston and Foray decided they had to keep their dreadful discovery a secret--they reasoned that if humans ever learned they had intellectual peers among supposedly lower animals, then mankind's confidence would be so shaken that it would never achieve its own ultimate destiny...

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Angelo Torres (artist).

Only one "White Whale" was seen in this 4-page story--The Dreadful Discovery--but the creature's dialogue (see main image, where it mentions we) implied there were others of its kind, although no number was specified.

Possibly these whales were Deviant mutates; or, considering their telepathic abilities, perhaps they were the result of an experiment by the Celestials (...sort of an "Eternals" equivalent for whales?).

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The "White Whale" has no known connections to:

Mark Foray has no known connections to:

Frank Weston has no known connections to:

Professor Mark Foray and Dr. Frank Weston

Foray (blond hair) and Weston (brown hair) were two scientists who were trying to conduct an experiment--they wanted to measure the intellect of a whale, in the hopes that the information would lead to a better understanding of the human brain. They set sail from a whaling harbor aboard their modified boat, in search of one of the sea creatures.

When they spotted the "White Whale," Foray tranquilized it with an anesthetizing pellet, and Weston attached electrode cables to the creature; the scientists then activated an electronic device to measure the sedated whale's brain capacity.

But they soon learned that the "White Whale" had a mental capacity even greater than humans; the creature "spoke" to the men telepathically, and warned them to leave it alone. Then the whale dived beneath the sea, destroying their boat with its tail fins in the process, and the scientists were cast into the sea.

Foray and Weston were soon rescued by a passing whaling vessel. Later, Weston wanted to tell the world about their discovery; however, Foray told him they couldn't, because they had no proof, other than their word...and besides, mankind's confidence might be shaken if it ever learned that it had intellectual peers among supposedly "lower animals".

--Uncanny Tales I#53/6

Foray and Weston's boat

It was a small ocean vessel used by the scientists to temporarily tranquilize a whale for their experiment. The boat was equipped with a modified harpoon gun that fired anesthetizing pellets; it also had an unidentified electronic device which measured brain capacity.

The boat was later destroyed by the tail fins of the "White Whale" when the gigantic creature dived below the ocean's surface.

--Uncanny Tales I#53/6

Unidentified whalers

Two inhabitants of a whaling harbor, they had earlier been attacked by a number of whales that acted as though they were "almost human".

Before Foray and Weston sailed from the harbor in search of a whale for their experiment, one of the whalers warned the scientists about the sea creatures.

Following Foray and Weston's extended absence at sea, the whalers became concerned and went in search of them. They found the two scientists just as the "White Whale" had destroyed Foray and Weston's boat; they fired a harpoon at the gigantic creature to discourage it away as they rescued the scientists from the sea.

--Uncanny Tales I#53/6

images: (without ads)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p4, pan3 (Main Image - "White Whale" telepathically "speaking" to Foray and Weston)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p2, pan5 ("White Whale" surfacing and blowing, as seen through Foray's binoculars)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p2, pan7 ("White Whale" struck by anesthetizing pellet)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p4, pan4 ("White Whale's" tail fins smash Foray and Weston's boat as it dives)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p2, pan3 (Mark Foray)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p4, pan6 (Frank Weston)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p4, pan2 (Frank Weston (left) and Mark Foray (right) "hear" whale's telepathic "voice")
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p1, pan1 (Foray and Weston's boat sailing from harbor)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p2, pan6 (as Weston pilots boat, Foray prepares to fire anesthetizing pellet from harpoon gun)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p3, pan6 (aboard boat, Weston and Foray operate electronic device to measure "White Whale's" intellect)
Uncanny Tales I#53/6, p4, pan5 (unidentified whalers fire harpoon gun at "White Whale" and save Foray and Weston from ocean)

Appearances:
Uncanny Tales I#53/6 (March, 1957) - unidentified writer, Angelo Torres (pencils and inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 05/21/2020
Last updated: 05/21/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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