1840

On Sundy evening as the schooner 'Wasp,' Captain Williams, and the schooner 'Independent Eagle,' Captain Owens, were coming up the bay, they described a strange looking fish or serpent to the leeward. A boat from each schooner was manned, and a chase took place. A harpoon was driven into the creature, and away it flew, dragging the boat for nearly eight miles. It was found necessary at length to stop the speed of this locomotive, and a couple of balls being shot into it, the death flurry came on, and it soon floated a lifeless carcase. It was borne in triumph to the foot of South-street Wharf. It measured twelve feet in length, and nine foot from fin to fin; it has a head like a seal, with teeth, and its back is covered with a hard shell. It has four fins or flippers, and its general appearance bears some resemblance to a turtle, or rather a monstrocity of that specie of fish, which nature in one of her freaks had created.—How it came into the Chesapeake bay is a mystery. It can be seen South-street Wharf.
—Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore American says :—"The creature would be a curiosity, we should suppose, any where, from its enormous size, but it is certainly a rarity in our waters, its weight is supposed to be about 1000lbs.