Sentence:  “Heart of wrought steel!” murmured Starbuck gazing over the side, and following with his eyes the receding boat—“canst thou yet ring boldly to that sight?—lowering thy keel among <WSD>ravening</WSD> sharks, and followed by them, open-mouthed to the chase; and this the critical third day? ...” 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Voracious and greedy.