The film was a B-movie background to the epic personal battle between director John Huston and would-be Ahab Orson Welles, with secondary roles performed by Gregory Peck and Moby Dick.
Whales are in fact commonly seen around the Canary Islands, and the island of Lanzarote even has a whale museum.
Although mostly filmed off the coasts of Wales, Ireland and Portugal, the final scenes were filmed off the Canary Islands near Las Palmas, the capital because winter was approaching and the water was getting too cold further north. The final scene with Richard Basehart floating symbolically and literally on the coffin was also shot here.
Las Canteras beach was the focal point of the filming and Moby Dick was built in the shipyard of Las Palmas, capital of Gran Canaria, and can still be seen on the island. Las Canteras is three miles long and the filming took place at the extreme eastern point known as La Puntilla during two weeks at Christmas in 1955.
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