Ghost Whale

100 x 50 cm
acrylic & pencil with netting on canvas
 
Ghost Whale- All but dead
Ghosts are said to come into being and haunt the Earth because of a violent death
The North Atlantic Right Whale. Only an estimated 336 individuals exist (WWF 2023). The Species can no longer be found in the Eastern part of the North Atlantic, coincidently the area near to the coasts of Norway and Iceland. The remaining population can only be found in the Western areas off the coasts of Canada and the United States.
The vast increase of shipping traffic in the last hundred years is a major threat to the whales from collisions with ships as the ships crisscross the whale’s traditional migratory corridors. Although the whales are large they are often killed in these collisions, unable to flee effectively. Human activity in these populated areas cause huge issues to marine life in general with abandoned and entangling fishing nets and lines, disabling and even drowning the whales. Discarded plastics are swallowed, the plastics are also broken down to a micro level and enters the food chain at every level, it eventually compacts and compounds into the predators effecting the health of all of the creatures.
The Right whale was originally named by the whalers who thought that it was the “right” whale to kill, as it had the habit of swimming close to the shore. Unfortunately for the whales the migratory routes to their breeding and feeding grounds passed near to urbanised areas at unenlightened times. The whale was slow moving and stayed afloat when it had been killed allowing for the easy stripping or “tonguing” of its flesh and blubber, without the need to haul the carcass on-board or to a local shore.
There may be some whales alive today that remember the slaughters of entire families and generations as the seas turned red in the struggle and the shouts of the excited men. The whales must remember because they are sentinel beings, with large brains. We also know that whales communicate across the ocean with their songs. The songs must have changed and developed over time, is it any wonder that their songs sound so sad?