Obed Starbuck

He captained the "Loper" in one of the most successful voyages in Nantucket taking 2280 barrrels of oil worth $50,000 ($1.2 M today).

http://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-1/myheritage-family-t...

Whaling in the Pacific for many years, Obed made a number of significant voyages. Sailing on the Hero 1822-1824, which returned to Nantucket with 2,173 barrels of sperm oil, he discovered an island on 5 September 1823, located at 5°32' S, 155°5' W, since known as Starbuck Island (also called "Hero Island").[2]

From 1824 to 1826, Obed captained the Loper, in which vessel he was the first European to visit an outlying island in the Phoenix group, which he named "New Nantucket" and which, when re-discovered in 1835 by Michael Baker, was renamed Baker Island.[2] Obed named "Loper Island" (Niutao) which was sighted by Francisco Antonio Mourelle on May 5, 1781,[3][4] and who named Niutao El Gran Cocal ('The Great Coconut Plantation').[5] Obed also named "Tracy Island" (Vaitupu), and various other now-unidentified islands.[2] Based on reported locations, these might include Birnie Island and Sydney Island, previously discovered by Capt. Emmett in 1820, although it is hard to be precise due to the bearings given.[6] On this journey, Obed also completed the mapping of Tuvalu, which had been begun by Captain George Barrett of the Nantucket whaler Independence II.[7]

Other sources suggest that Obed discovered New Nantucket in 1823, while aboard the Hero.[8] J.N. Reynolds, while reporting to the US House of Representatives in 1828, reported a sighting of an island "5 deg. 1 min. south latitude. Seen by O. Starbuck, northwest from Marquesas".[9]

Obed made later whaling voyages on the Loper (1829–1830), Rose in 1831 (which ran aground), and the Zone in 1843–1846.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbuck_(whaling_family)