Moby Dick (Willi de Waal in the Netherlands) was a beluga, or white whale, that caused a sensation in 1966 along the Lower Rhine and then in all of Germany and the Netherlands.[1] It was named after the whale in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.
Illustration of Herman Melville's fictional white whale, Moby Dick, the namesake of the Rhine's beluga visitor
On May 18, 1966, a few Rhine skippers near Duisburg reported a white whale in the Rhine to the water police. Officials reacted with incredulity and made the mariners take a blood alcohol test, which came up negative. In fact, there really was a four-meter-long (13 ft), 3,500-pound white whale swimming in the Rhine 300 kilometers from the ocean and thousands of kilometers from the natural beluga habitat in arctic waters.[1][2]
Moby Dick, it was later surmised, had likely been captured on the East Coast of Canada and put on a freighter and sent to a zoo in England. Shortly before landing, a storm in the English channel threw the container with Moby overboard who disappeared, before reappearing months later far up the Rhine river.[1]
Wolfgang Gewalt, the director of the Duisburg Zoo, tried to subdue the unusual guest in the Rhine with nets and tranquilizer darts. This led to massive protests from the people and official protests from the Netherlands so they had to desist.[1]
At first Moby Dick turned oceanward again, but stopped in front of a lock to the ocean opened specially for him, and swam up the Rhine again, as far as Bonn. Once there he turned around and was sighted three days later, on the June 16 at 18:42, for the last time after reaching the open ocean at Hook of Holland.[1]
"Moby Dick" found its way to the Rhine River. A belugas' natural habitat is in the Arctic.A Beluga whale at the Atlanta aquarium.
Observers noted that the normally white whale's skin appeared bumpy with dark splotches, apparently altered by the polluted waters of the Rhine river.[3] The Rhine was justifiably characterized as a sewer, since waste water from cities and chemical plants was for the most part poured in unfiltered. There is a suggestion that the appearance of Moby Dick in the Rhine and the effect the polluted water seemed to visibly have on the whale was the beginning of the environmental movement in Germany.[3] In fact, around 1966 the first effective environmental protection laws in Germany were adopted.
moby, dick, rhine, moby, dick, willi, waal, netherlands, beluga, white, whale, that, caused, sensation, 1966, along, lower, rhine, then, germany, netherlands, named, after, whale, 1851, novel, moby, dick, herman, melville, illustration, herman, melville, ficti. Moby Dick Willi de Waal in the Netherlands was a beluga or white whale that caused a sensation in 1966 along the Lower Rhine and then in all of Germany and the Netherlands 1 It was named after the whale in the 1851 novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville Illustration of Herman Melville s fictional white whale Moby Dick the namesake of the Rhine s beluga visitorOn May 18 1966 a few Rhine skippers near Duisburg reported a white whale in the Rhine to the water police Officials reacted with incredulity and made the mariners take a blood alcohol test which came up negative In fact there really was a four meter long 13 ft 3 500 pound white whale swimming in the Rhine 300 kilometers from the ocean and thousands of kilometers from the natural beluga habitat in arctic waters 1 2 Moby Dick it was later surmised had likely been captured on the East Coast of Canada and put on a freighter and sent to a zoo in England Shortly before landing a storm in the English channel threw the container with Moby overboard who disappeared before reappearing months later far up the Rhine river 1 Wolfgang Gewalt the director of the Duisburg Zoo tried to subdue the unusual guest in the Rhine with nets and tranquilizer darts This led to massive protests from the people and official protests from the Netherlands so they had to desist 1 At first Moby Dick turned oceanward again but stopped in front of a lock to the ocean opened specially for him and swam up the Rhine again as far as Bonn Once there he turned around and was sighted three days later on the June 16 at 18 42 for the last time after reaching the open ocean at Hook of Holland 1 Moby Dick found its way to the Rhine River A belugas natural habitat is in the Arctic A Beluga whale at the Atlanta aquarium Observers noted that the normally white whale s skin appeared bumpy with dark splotches apparently altered by the polluted waters of the Rhine river 3 The Rhine was justifiably characterized as a sewer since waste water from cities and chemical plants was for the most part poured in unfiltered There is a suggestion that the appearance of Moby Dick in the Rhine and the effect the polluted water seemed to visibly have on the whale was the beginning of the environmental movement in Germany 3 In fact around 1966 the first effective environmental protection laws in Germany were adopted See also editList of individual cetaceansReferences edit a b c d e J W Mohnhaupt 2019 The Zookeepers War An Incredible True Story from the Cold War Simon amp Schuster p 127 136 ISBN 978 1501188497 Tran und Tranen Der Spiegel Vol 23 1966 05 30 Retrieved 2019 01 29 a b The Whale that Started the Green Movement mentalfloss com 2015 07 10 Retrieved 2019 01 29 External links edit in German BR Kalenderblatt Moby Dick im Rhein gesichtet permanent dead link program on the German radio station BR accessed 8 July 2009 in German WDR Stichtag Der Moby Dick vom Rhein program on the German radio station WDR accessed 8 July 2009 in German Die Reise des weissen Wals von Isabelle Schaub Klappenbroschur 166 Seiten 2019 ISBN 978 3 943767 87 2 https www klakverlag de produkt die reise des weissen wals nbsp This Cetacean related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Moby Dick Rhine amp oldid 1214936167, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
