An 80-ton <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_whale" id="mwXA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Sperm whale">sperm whale</a> attacks and sinks the <i id="mwXQ"><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_(1799_whaleship)" id="mwXg" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Essex (1799 whaleship)">Essex</a></i> (a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling" id="mwXw" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Whaling">whaling</a> ship from <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantucket,_Massachusetts" id="mwYA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Nantucket, Massachusetts">Nantucket, Massachusetts</a>) <span about="#mwt28" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"convert","href":"./Template:Convert"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"2000"},"2":{"wt":"mi"},"3":{"wt":"km"},"order":{"wt":"flip"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwYQ" typeof="mw:Transclusion">3,200 kilometres (2,000</span><span about="#mwt28" typeof="mw:Entity"> </span><span about="#mwt28">mi)</span> from the western coast of South America. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Melville" id="mwYg" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Herman Melville">Herman Melville</a>'s 1851 novel <i id="mwYw"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick" id="mwZA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Moby-Dick">Moby-Dick</a></i> was in part inspired by this incident.)