Whaling in the South Seas was not the romantic adventure many popular stories would lead us to believe. Life aboard whaling ships certainly had its moments of danger and excitement, but most of the time the whalers were utterly bored. The thrill and exhilaration of a whale sighting and a "Nantucket sleigh ride" was often followed by endless periods of waiting during which boredom and monotony weighed heavily upon the men. Out of this boredom emerged the creative genius of the whalers as evidenced by their wonderful tall tales and intricate whale bone carvings known as scrimshaw.

Q. Select two words from the paragraph which portray whaling in terms of the author's treatment of the subject.