Mocha Dick (; died 1838) was an albino (or possibly leucistic) male sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) that lived in the southeastern Pacific Ocean in the early 19th century, usually encountered in the waters near Mocha Island, off the central coast of Chile. American explorer and author J. N. Reynolds published an account of the whale in Mocha Dick, or The White Whale of the Pacific: A Leaf from a Manuscript Journal, printed in The Knickerbocker in 1839. Mocha Dick was, apparently, part of the inspiration behind Herman Melville's novel, Moby-Dick (1851).
History
Mocha Dick survived many skirmishes (by Reynolds' account at least 100) with whalers before he was eventually killed. He was large and powerful, capable of wrecking small craft with his fluke. Explorer J.N. Reynolds gathered first-hand observations of Mocha Dick and published his account "Mocha Dick: Or the White Whale of the Pacific: A Leaf from a Manuscript Journal", in the May 1839 issue of The Knickerbocker. Reynolds described Mocha Dick as "an old bull whale, of prodigious size and strength... white as wool. According to Reynolds, Mocha Dick's head was covered with barnacles, which gave him a rugged appearance. The whale also had a peculiar method of spouting: