About
Moby Doll
In
1964, the Vancouver Aquarium ordered a life-sized model of a killer
whale. A harpoon was set up and after a 2 month wait, a group of
orcas was spotted. The men shot a young orca and instead of killing it, it
was injured. The orca was kept at the surface by two pod members and tried to
free himself.
The hunters shot at him several times, but the mammal did not die. It was decided to "save" the young animal and he was towed for 16 hours to Vancouver. The orca was calm and seemed to be unusually tame. He was called Moby Doll- which was chosen from a radio contest. When he first arrived, everyone thought the young orca was a female until the necropsy showed in fact she was a male.
Unfortunately Moby Doll didn't want to eat, neither salmon, nor seal carcasses, poultry etc, he just circled his tank in a clockwise pattern. Finally after 55 days in captivity, a vistor held out a lingcod and Moby took it; he finally began to eat (up to 200 pounds a day) and gained weight and activity. But it was obvious he was not healthy, as he developed a skin disease from the dirty harbour water.
After several days in the dry docks, he was moved to Burrard Inlet in a purpose-built enclosure at the Jericho military base on the Point Grey waterfront. It wasn’t long before Marineland of the Pacific was willing to pay $25,000 for Moby Doll
One month after he started eating, Moby Doll died from drowning (probably caused by exhaustion).
The hunters shot at him several times, but the mammal did not die. It was decided to "save" the young animal and he was towed for 16 hours to Vancouver. The orca was calm and seemed to be unusually tame. He was called Moby Doll- which was chosen from a radio contest. When he first arrived, everyone thought the young orca was a female until the necropsy showed in fact she was a male.
Unfortunately Moby Doll didn't want to eat, neither salmon, nor seal carcasses, poultry etc, he just circled his tank in a clockwise pattern. Finally after 55 days in captivity, a vistor held out a lingcod and Moby took it; he finally began to eat (up to 200 pounds a day) and gained weight and activity. But it was obvious he was not healthy, as he developed a skin disease from the dirty harbour water.
After several days in the dry docks, he was moved to Burrard Inlet in a purpose-built enclosure at the Jericho military base on the Point Grey waterfront. It wasn’t long before Marineland of the Pacific was willing to pay $25,000 for Moby Doll
One month after he started eating, Moby Doll died from drowning (probably caused by exhaustion).
Name Meaning & Blood
Type:- Moby Doll is the female version of "Moby Dick"
- Pronunciation of Moby Doll: moh-BEE doll
- Blood Type: 100% Southern Resident
- Pronunciation of Moby Doll: moh-BEE doll
- Blood Type: 100% Southern Resident
Family: Moby
Doll was a member of the Southern Resident Orca Community however
it is unknown which pod he originates from so his family is unknown
Transfers:
| Burrard Dry Docks | July 17, 1964 - July ?? 1964 |
| Jericho Military Base | July ?? 1964 - October 9, 1964 |