How killer whales went from beasts to beloved

Orcasare one of the most beloved animalson the planet, but the creatures were widely perceived as monsters longbefore activists began chanting "save the whales."

"Everybody knew that these whales were ferociousand dangerous, and if you got too closethey would bite your head off," saidMarkLeiren-Young,author ofThe Killer Whale Who Changed the World.

In the 1950s, the U.S. military launched an airstrike on nearly 100 killer whales off the coast of Iceland slaughtering them with rockets and gunfire after fishermen complained they were eatingtoo many herring.

And in the early '60s, Canada'sfederal government approved a mountedmachinegunon the coast of Campbell River, B.C.,as a tool to reduce the allegedfish-ravagingorca population.

But the negative attitudes towards killer whaleschanged in the summer of 1964, when a whaling crew captured the infamous Moby Doll off the coast of Saturna Island, B.C. one of the first killer whalesever held in captivity.

Named after the infamous white whale, Moby Doll was captured on behalf of the Vancouver Aquariumin July1964. He was meant to be used asan educational fixture showcasingthe anatomy of an orca.

But the harpoonistbotched the killshot.

"It was impossible shot one inch to either side, and it would have killed the whale," Leiren-Youngsaid.

Moby Doll was instead brought back to Vancouver, where it lived inside a makeshift holding tank in Burrard Inlet. At the time, TV news broadcastsreported thatthe Vancouver Aquarium had captured a monster.

People wereclamouring to see it.

"A couple days later, the owner of the drydock allowed the public to view the whale, whichwas the first and only time that viewing for this whale was allowed," Leiren-Youngsaid.

A crowd of 20,000 people showed up the same number of people that filled The Beatles concert at Empire Stadium later that summer.

"It went from 'The Monster' to 'Vancouver's pet whale' in such a short span of time," Leiren-Youngsaid.

Instead, he says, people began to notice that the killer whale wasn't the monster that it had been made out to be it was docile, friendly, and beautiful.

• CBC Ideas: Moby Doll

The orca sparked the interest of scientists, who began studying its vocals, leading to the discovery that pods of whales and dolphinsspeak in dialects.

Leiren-Youngsays the killer whale also helped spawn the modern Save the whales movement,which grew out of Vancouver.

"Mobychanged the world in lots of ways we went from fearing these creatures to loving them to death."

He says if it wasn't for this one whale's misguided capture, there might not be any orcas left to save.

"I'm pretty much convinced that without Moby Doll, we would have finished off the last killer whalewith a side of wasabiyears ago."

Moby Doll lasted 88 days in captivity, before passing on Oct.9, 1964.

With files from CBC's North by Northwest

To listen to the full interview, click on the audio labelled: Meet Moby Doll: The Killer Whale Who Changed the World