Ahab rejects the repeated pleas of his first mate, Starbuck, to stop chasing Moby Dick because the ship is operating at a loss due to Ahab's apathy towards hunting whales other than Moby Dick and because he fears the captain's narrow-minded pursuit puts the entire crew's safety at risk.

Yet even as their fellow sailors perish and their survival becomes more and more uncertain, the majority of the crew refuses to challenge Ahab, eager to help him claim the prize of Moby Dick.

Finally, the Pequod locates Moby Dick, and Ahab personally leads a group of men to kill the beast.

Patrick Stewart took the lead role shortly after making a striking reference to the book, and quoting from it, in Star Trek: First Contact.

[4] Gregory Peck appeared as Father Mapple more than 40 years after he played Ahab in the 1956 film adaptation directed by John Huston.