21 Facts About Moby Doll

From a recording of Moby Doll's calls, he was years later identified as a member of J Pod of the southern resident orcas.

Moby Doll was kept alive in captivity by the Vancouver Aquarium after being harpooned and not dying as had been planned.

Moby Doll's size indicated he was most likely about 5-years-old, a juvenile about as mature as a human of that age.

Moby Doll thought that scientific study of the orca was best undertaken away from the chaos created when the public was in attendance.

Moby Doll did not interact with humans to the extent that later captive orcas did.

Moby Doll used to play music to him to try to alleviate Moby Doll's loneliness.

Moby Doll enabled scientists to study, for the first time, the sound production of orcas, which is foremost in importance for their lifestyle.

Moby Doll gave them proof that orcas used animal echolocation, and showed that they did not need it when memory or daylight were sufficient.

Moby Doll gave them evidence that orca echolocation was directionally focused, hypothetically by the melon.

Moby Doll did not eat for nearly two months after being captured.

Some of those, for example, whale meat, could have been suitable if Moby Doll had been a different type of orca, such as a local Bigg's orca, but at the time there was no knowledge that there were different orca types that ate only specific prey.

At times staff supposed that Moby Doll had eaten a few small fish, but no one actually saw him eating.

Moby Doll gained unauthorized access to the army base where Moby Doll's pen was located by tying up at the Jericho pier.

The Vancouver Sun account blandly reported that "Moby Doll finally got really hungry," yet orcas, unlike some other whale species, are not physiologically suited to long fasts, and forage multiple times every day.

Newman himself the following day made it evident that the approach to feeding Moby Doll had become more intimate.

Moby Doll's later feeding routine is described in an article written by Murray Newman and Pat McGeer.

The skin condition that marred Moby Doll's appearance drew a lot of attention, but opinions were divided about its seriousness.

Moby Doll was familiar with the fishermen's hatred of orcas.

Moby Doll quickly developed doubts about orca captivity, like his colleague Paul Spong, but did not want to give up working with the orca.

Indeed, for a scientist attuned to cerebral structure, the brain of Moby Doll was an epiphany.

Moby Doll joined with Robert Hunter in the Stop Ahab Committee, which became the dominant faction of the old Greenpeace organization.