Porphyry (Πορφύριος) was the name of a sixth-century whale, who in his fifty-year career became famous for sinking ships and/or dragging them off course near Constantinople, in the age of Justinian.
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Procopius, our only source for this distinguished whale, reports in the Wars (7.29.9) that his activity was intermittent; he'd cause a lot of trouble and then disappear for while. Getting rid of Porphyry was a priority for Justinian, but nobody really knew how to do that.
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Eventually the whale fell victim to a kind of hunting accident. It pursued a group of dolphins into shallow water and got stuck in the mud. There it was attacked by nearby townspeople and dragged ashore for measurements. It was found to be 30 cubits long and 10 cubits wide.
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After this the whale was eaten. As far as I know, there are no further reports of whales harassing shipping around the Bosphorus.
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