Because whales often travel in a school, or "Grand Armada," in this part of the world, Ishmael takes the opportunity to digress regarding the structure of the schools. There are two classifications. One consists of female whales that are, when fully grown, about a third the size of an average male. A powerful bull whale, the "schoolmaster," rules these "harem schools"; his role is to breed and protect the females and to chase off any young bulls hoping to replace him. The schoolmaster reigns until he is too old to defend his harem. He then is cast out to finish his days in solitude. The other type of school consists of young bulls not yet possessing a harem. While these are not yet full-grown, they are considerably more aggressive and dangerous than the females. As they reach about three-fourths of mature size, they leave the herd and seek their own harems. Ishmael sees one other important difference in the schools. If a female is wounded, the others in the harem gather round, apparently displaying concern but sometimes endangering themselves to the same fate. When a young bull is wounded, the other males promptly desert him. Ishmael thinks he sees, in this, a gender trend consistent with humans.
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