"The men of the ship Essex (the true event that inspires the story “Moby Dick”) avoided islands after being shipwrecked for fear of cannibals. The islands were settled and landing there would have brought salvation to the survivors. Ironically because of this bypass, the men ran out of food and were forced to eat each other for survival."
No offense, (and I sincerely mean that) wikipedia should never be used as a credible source of information. At least, not exclusively.