Diver

In the fall of 2000, a young female humpback whale took up temporary residence inside Boston, Salem, and Gloucester harbors in Massachusetts. From September through December this youngster, about 28 feet long, cruised and rested and played and fed, often within 100 feet of shore. Local newspapers and television stations regularly featured her and hundreds of people would come out every day to see her from the shore. For many of these folks, this was their first “in person” experience with a whale. Because of her habit of staying so close to shore, and because the markings on the underside of her tail flukes looked sort of like an “I” and an “L”, she was named INLAND.

The following spring, in April, 2001, INLAND was found tangled in gill net off Virginia Beach, Virginia, dead. Otherwise healthy, according to a necropsy, INLAND died as a result of her entanglement. While the death of one whale, even though caused by human activity, is not a world shattering tragedy, it is sad that an animal that gave so much delight to so many people should die this way.

To have some good come out of this, her skeleton was recovered by the Whale Center of New England, and will serve as the centerpiece for an educational display about the biology of humpback whales at the New England Whale Center in Gloucester, MA. I’ve created this sculpture of INLAND to commemorate her, and the scientists and volunteers who work so hard to study and understand and protect these incredible creatures.