| Mocha Dick |
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Mocha Dick was famous for having survived many skirmishes (by some accounts at least 100) with Whaler s before he was eventually killed. He was large and powerful, capable of wrecking small crafts with his Flukes . According to J.N. Reynolds , who gathered first-hand observations of Mocha Dick, the whale also had a peculiar method of spouting: Instead of projecting his spout obliquely forward, and puffing with a short, convulsive effort, accompanied by a snorting noise, as usual with his species, he flung the water from his nose in a lofty, perpendicular, expanded volume, at regular and somewhat distant intervals; its expulsion producing a continuous roar, like that of vapor struggling from the safety-valve of a powerful steam engine. For his species, Mocha Dick had an enormous number of Barnacles , giving him a rugged appearance. According to Reynolds, Mocha Dick was most likely first encountered and attacked sometime prior to the year 1810 off Mocha Island. His survival of the first encounters coupled with his unusual appearance quickly made him famous among Nantucket whalers. Many captains attempted to hunt him after rounding Cape Horn . He was docile and friendly if not attacked, sometimes swimming alongside approaching whale boats. When attacked, however, he was capable of great ferocity and destruction and was widely feared among harpooners. EXTERNAL LINKS
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