Ironically these events, among others, would earn Michael the title of 'human fish' that he would carry with him throughout his extended career as a promoter of sporting events and all around active living. In 2006 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Stanford University for his role in helping depressed whales find therapeutic alternatives to beach suicide as a result of having to share this planet with the rest of us. Initially Michael had a positive outlook on his collaboration with the university, but he would later become suspect of Stanford's intentions when it was revealed to him that the university had procured some of his early childhood records that were quickly incorporated into the school's department of marine eugenics core curriculum. The university had told him that