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- "Cannot say about Jack Sparrow. But there's an island, just south of the straits, where I trade spice for…delicious long pork. Cannot say about Jack, but you'll find a ship there. A ship with black sails."
- ―Shrimper to Will Turner
This man was a shrimper who operated in or near the island of Tortuga. He met Will Turner during his search for Captain Jack Sparrow, shortly after the East India Trading Company's occupation of Port Royal under Lord Cutler Beckett. This shrimper operated around Tortuga, claiming to have traded spice for "long pork" (a euphemism for human flesh) on Isla de Pelegostos, an island just south of the straits.
Biography
Not much is known of this man's life other than that he resided in Tortuga and began working as a shrimper before 1729, the time of the East India Trading Company's occupation of Port Royal under Lord Cutler Beckett. While the shrimper knew of the Pelegosto tribe and their island, Isla de Pelegostos, it is unclear whether or not he was aware of the "delicious long pork" he traded spices for was actually cannibalized human flesh and that the tribe wore human bones. He also knew of the infamous pirate Captain Jack Sparrow and his ship, the Black Pearl. While at the Cannibal island, he noticed a ship with black sails beached at the bay, which he could identify as the Pearl.[2]
Shortly after seeing the Pearl on the island, he was approached by Will Turner, who informed him that he was searching for Jack Sparrow. The shrimper told Turner of the island and its long pork, and that he had seen Jack's ship there, though he couldn't say anything about Sparrow himself. For a few coins,[1] Will convinced the shrimper to sail him out to the island. As the Shrimper's ship came around the point, Will saw it for himself; the Black Pearl careened onto the sand. The shrimper then had his brother row Turner near the shore in a longboat.[2]
Unbeknownst to Will Turner, the shrimper knew he would soon face the Pelegostos Tribe warriors, who had bite marks all over their faces and bodies, and were wearing human bones. Will would suspect that this was why the shrimper had been so frightened.[3] His further fate remains unknown.
Behind the scenes
The Shrimper first appeared in Irene Trimble's junior novelization for the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.[1] He was portrayed by Robbie Gee.[2]
In the comic book adaptation, the man who gives Will Turner instructions where to find the Black Pearl is not the shrimper but a bartender in a cantina.[4]