Skeleton of whale mentioned in ‘Moby Dick’ to be restored

By Izzy Hawksworth

Conservationist are hoping to raise $103,152 to restore the huge skeleton of a 200-year-old whale which is mentioned in the classic novel "Moby Dick."

Constable Moby, is a 58ft-long bull sperm whale which washed up on Tunstall Beach near Withernsea, East Yorks., on April 28, 1825.

The skeleton of the animal has been kept at an outhouse at Burton Constable, a 13th century mansion near Hull, East Yorks., since the 1830s but it eventually became neglected and fell into poor condition.

Constable Moby, who is also known as "Mo," was even mentioned in the 1851 novel 'Moby Dick' that was written by American writer Herman Melville.

Alasdair Hutson, the director of the Burton Constable Foundation, now wants to raise £80,000 to hire someone to protect the bones with a vanish and use a metal frame to lift the skeleton off the ground.

Alasdair, 36, said: "Like any bones that have been exposed to the elements for so long, it has started to rot.

"We are fundraising to get the whale to someone who can protect the bones by applying a finish on them and we will use a metal frame to lift it off the ground.

"That will protect Moby from the weather and the elements and all the different weather before it starts to degrade again."

When Mo was discovered on the beach in 1825, there was a huge amount of public interest in the whale's body and people visited the area specifically to see it.

Physician Dr. James Alderson went to see Mo and studied and dissected the body before writing a scientific paper on it.

It was then moved to the mansion in around 1836 and Alasdair says that the fact local people were able to take the body to the property nine miles away, was just 'phenomenal.'

He said: "It tells the story of what the attitude of the time was, as it was the Victorian time.

"The effort would have taken to move the whale's body, nine miles, is just phenomenal and should not be underestimated.

"The whale had a massive influence, there was a local scientist called Dr James Alderson who did loads of work on the body and the bones.

"He went onto be the Queen's physician and he was head of a royal society at one point.

"This was such a significant thing - whales had never been studied before like this and people travelled miles to come and see it."

Herman Melville was left 'fascinated' about finding out about Mo through Dr. James Alderson so the author then decided to include the whale in Moby Dick.

The book mentions how the animal was kept at Burton Constable and how you can 'open and shut' Mo's cavities like a 'great chest of drawers.'

Alasdair said: "Bare in mind this is an American author but he added it to the massive bestseller Moby Dick.

"It's still popular around the world.

"When I was at school, we studied 'Mice and Men' but this is their version of that.

"There are millions of Americans who study it every year, so it's nice that Mo is mentioned."