This story is said to have inspired the novel "Moby-Dick," and was adapted into a 2015 film. In fact, killer whales may have been key characters in the infamous incident that inspired Herman Melville's 1851 novel "Moby-Dick." "Moby-Dick" is inspired by a sperm whale, not a killer whale, sinking the whaling boat "Essex" in 1820. From there, the sailors had to fight off the conditions of the open ocean and follow up attacks by possible orca whales. The novel that resurfaced the story of the EssexPhilbrick's book is a historical recount of what happened to the real sailors that inspired Melville's tale.

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Persons: Moby, Dick, —, Herman Melville's, Nathaniel Philbrick's, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, Cillian Murphy, Moby Dick, Essex, Hanne Strager, Philbrick, Melville, Owen Chase's, George Pollard Jr, Pollard Organizations: Service, New Bedford Whaling Museum, Smithsonian, Cruising Association, Business, New York Times Locations: Strait, Gibraltar, Essex, Nantucket, Polish, Moroccan, Danish