Animal Planet's THE WHALE: REVENGE FROM THE DEEP is a two-hour feature film based on true accounts of one of history's most haunting stories of survival: the sinking of the whaling ship "The Essex." Martin Sheen stars as Old Thomas Nickerson, who reminisces about his emotional maiden voyage on board the doomed ship. Just a naïve cabin boy with dreams of matching his grandfather's bravery, he recounts days and nights battling brutal storms, crippling waves, the scorching sun and grueling hunger. After "The Essex" sinks, the men are forced into a gripping struggle for survival, and eventually, desperation and starvation lead to cannibalism. The hunters turn their slaughter upon each other, and only then do they feel the full weight of one whale's revenge.