When something is your "white whale" it's something that you want to the point of obsession, but may never actually acheive. In "Moby Dick", Captain Ahab dedicates his life to chasing the white whale *SPOILER ALERT*but never catches it, dying by being pulled under the ocean by his harpoon. In essence, his obession killed him.
The "black whale" as far as I can tell, doesn't have much mythical meaning in culture. It's not mentioned much other than as a nickname for Right Whales or as the title of a1930s German movie...but I think meaning and understanding can still be taken from the idea. If a white whale is unattainable desire... undeserved desire...then the black whale could be the opposite. The black whale could be reality...the opposite of angelic dreams... true necessities...the things that truly deserve our attention.
If the white whale is the unattainable, the far-off dream, then the black whale is the reality which stands before us...the things we can and must address...the REAL, possible change.
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