Whaler's cry of surprise touches sailor (4)
I believe the answer is:
ahab
'whaler's' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Fictional whaler ' mean 'ahab' so perhaps 'whaler' could also mean 'ahab')
'cry of surprise touches sailor' is the wordplay.
'cry of surprise' becomes 'aha' (I've seen this before).
'touches sailor' becomes 'b' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'aha'+'b'='AHAB'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ahab that I've seen before include "Name of captain seeking Moby Dick" , "Captain hunting Moby Dick" , "Whaling Captain" , "Jezebel's husband, wicked king in the 'Old testament'" , "Moby Dick's pursuer" .)