‘Nobody knows Gerald’: A literal dolphin expert has waded into the viral kidnapping story

After a man called Ricky James Hollowell was allegedly kidnapped by dolphins, led by the now-infamous Gerald, he was forced to build them a city complete with condos, a town square, and a recreation centre.

The obviously fake story first emerged on spoof Facebook pages, but it’s since spiralled out of control. It claimed that Ricky had washed up on the beach, sunburned and complaining of a dolphin named Gerald.

“He told deputies he had been ‘taken against his will by a pod of dolphins three days ago’ and forced to work on what he called ‘an underwater construction project,’” the false report read.

This Florida man claims he was kidnapped by dolphins for three days to build them an underwater city. 🐬
Do you believe him? 😱 pic.twitter.com/wpEjmz1DdC

— Lucy (@TheLucyShow1) March 14, 2026

Soon enough, the actual real-life police were forced to reject the story, issuing a statement that read: “While living in Lee County is paradise – we can confidently confirm the underwater real estate market has not been tapped into…yet. We checked with our newly implemented Underwater Construction Investigation Team and learned the dolphins of our oceans deny any involvement.”

Now there’s an expert, and he sounds exhausted.

The expert was asked about the dolphin that kidnapped Ricky

Justin Gregg is an author, scientist, and expert in the world of dolphins. He’s a professor of biology at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, specialising in dolphin cognition, and he also works for the Dolphin Communication Project. Long story short: If there’s one person who knows the crack, it’s Justin.

Speaking to Life Hacker, the poor man, who has studied for years to be an expert in his field, seemed exhausted as he was quizzed on the dolphin kidnapping story.

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A gang of dolphins kidnap a swimmer with a Master's in Aerospace Underwater Engineering. They made him build in their underwater city for 3 days. The alpha dolphin, Gerald, helped him breathe this whole time. Thankfully I only have a bachelor's degree in social sciences. 😂 pic.twitter.com/kWJbKr72ox

— Pinkeee (@tweedledee1111) March 11, 2026

Senior staff writer Stephen Johnson asked seemingly obvious questions, like do dolphins live in cities, and you can see Justin slowly losing his composure throughout the interview.

“No, that’s also insane. First of all, they don’t build anything. They don’t have thumbs,” he responded. When the journalist pointed out that’s why they kidnapped Ricky, he added: “Look at it this way: Why do humans build shelters? Because it’s raining or whatever. Are dolphins protecting themselves from the rain? No. It’s already wet.”

When asked whether they’re capable of kidnapping someone, Justin explained: “I don’t even know what ‘kidnap’ would mean to a dolphin. Where would they be taking them and why? It’s weird.”

My favourite question from the interview was definitely whether or not Justin knew Gerald the dolphin personally. Shocker, he doesn’t.

“Nobody knows Gerald, because Gerald does not exist,” he added.

So, is the matter settled then? OR is Justin secretly a part of Big-Dolphin and is on the payroll?

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Featured image credit: Canva