Why a Booktrail?
1964 onwards: The fascinating and heartbreaking account of the first publicly exhibited captive killer whale
The Killer Whale Who Changed the World
What you need to know before your trail
Killer whales had always been seen as bloodthirsty sea monsters. That all changed when a young killer whale was captured off the west coast of North America and displayed to the public in 1964. Moby Doll — as the whale became known — was an instant celebrity, drawing 20,000 visitors on the one and only day he was exhibited. He died within a few months, but his famous gentleness sparked a worldwide crusade that transformed how people understood and appreciated orcas. Because of Moby Doll, we stopped fearing “killers” and grew to love and respect “orcas.”
Travel Guide
Saturna Island
Saturna Island
“Thirteen killer whales break through the pristine Water off Saturna Island to take a breath under the morning sun. Their jet-black dorsal fins slice through the surf off Canada’s west coast..”
A man studies the whales, a creatures misunderstood and described as sea beasts:
“Nothing that lives or moves in or on the water is safe from its assaults. Its size, power, speed, agility and disposition have made this black monster greatly feared wherever it is known”
As far back as 1758, people have feared and documented these fears about the orca whale. They’ve been deemed Killer demons, the feared one, and dangerous spirits of some sorts. On Captain Scott’s final Antarctic expedition in 1912, he and his men found themselves surrounded and were convinced they were doomed.
Their mysticism has grown over the years but it was really in the novel Moby Dick. more than 30 years after it was published, that the whale became so greatly embedded in people’s minds. Moby Dick did for whales what Jaws did for sharks.
Moby Doll is the whale in this novel. The Vancouver Aquarium’s founder director decided to tow the orca back toVancouver and put him on display.The whale was shown to the public in a pen at Burrard Drydocks but didn’t eat for the first two months.
Moby Doll, changed our view of whales. He is why we stopped fearing “killers” and grew to love and respect “orcas.”
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Killer Whale Who Changed the World
Destination : Saturna Island, British Columbia Author/Guide: Mark Leiren-Young Departure Time: 1964 onwards
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