Happy World Whale Day
Whales in art and culture
The sun is shining, the tank is clean… and today is World Whale Day! The main event here at Beached and the ideal day to celebrate all things whales.
It’s a day to remember everything we love about the awe-inspiring giants, while acknowledging their historical (and contemporary) plight. This year, to mark the occasion, I’m taking the opportunity to share some of my favourite whale-themed poetry, literature, paintings, and photography. Each piece of art is inspired by the mighty whale, spotlighting their virtues and hardships alike. Enjoy.
Literature:
“As any hunter knows, killing takes some getting used to. Even though this brutal and bloody display was the supposed dream of every young man from Nantucket, the sentiments of an eighteen-year-old green hand, Enoch Cloud, who kept a journal during his voyage on a whaleship, are telling: “It is painful to witness the death of the smallest of God's created beings, much more, one in which life is so vigorously maintained as the Whale! And when I saw this, the largest and most terrible of all created animals bleeding, quivering, dying a victim to the cunning of man, my feelings were indeed peculiar!””
— Nathaniel Philbrick, excerpt from In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (2000)
Describing whales as ‘one in which life is so vigorously maintained’ perfectly epitomises why they are such a beloved animal. We, as a species, seem to be wowed by their enormity, and moved by their great intelligence, gentle nature and playful spirit. So when reading In the Heart of the Sea, it’s difficult to anticipate why the audience would ever sympathise with those who are slaughtering them. I highly recommend the book for this very reason. In the Heart of the Sea tells the real version of Moby Dick, a story of the sinking of the whaleship Essex which was attacked by a sperm whale in 1820. The story that unfolds — pulled from the accounts of cabin boy Thomas Nickerson and first mate Owen Chase — is one of terror, survival and soul-searching. Impeccably researched , Philbrick exposes man's supposed power over nature, all while filling in the gaps with fascinating details about the plight of whales in the 18th and 19th century. The attack on the whaleship occurred during the peak of whaling — the industry of its day — which saw almost 3 million (and counting) whales slaughtered for their oil.
Paintings:
This painting is one of many like it. Marine artwork often depicted what was seen as the essence of the whaling industry - an undeniably glorious landscape, usually on the rough open ocean or of a distinctly far-away land, with a strong fleet full of heroic sailors taking down these mighty beasts. Some paintings opt to show the dangers of whaling with men falling into the water as the evil giants retaliate but the sad, defeated eyes of this harpooned whale is particularly haunting. Spitsbergen is the largest island among the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway. It’s worth noting that Norway continues to whale to this day.
Given that the majority and most famous of Hokusai’s art depicts water in some form, including a woodblock print of the whaling industry at work is no great surprise. A juxtaposition if I ever saw one, this was one of ten fishing-themed prints composed as part of the ‘Oceans of Wisdom’ series, one of Hokusai’s rarest sets. Others in the series feature shellfish-gathering and fly-fishing, each supposedly representing people expressing themselves through labour and harmoniously working with the forces of nature. Hokusai often depicted the normality of life in Japan, showing that what would be considered barbaric to you or I today, was simply just another job in 1832.
It is quite unfortunate that almost all paintings of whales from art history depict their demise but World Whale Day doesn’t have to be all about whaling! Several years ago I purchased my first and favourite miniature painting from South African artist, Lorraine Loots, whose series ‘Paintings for Ants’ I am thrilled to have discovered. This tiny blue whale is currently in a box in my parents loft patiently waiting to be hung on a wall, front and centre.
Poetry:
Oh! the whale is free of the boundless sea, He lives for a thousand years; He sinks to rest in the billow's breast, Nor the roughest tempest fears: The howling blast as it hurries past, Is music to lull him to sleep, And he scatters the spray in his boisterous play, As he dashes the king of the deep. Oh! the rare old whale, 'mid storm and gale, In his ocean home shall be, A giant in might, where might is right, And king of the boundless sea!— The Whale by Joseph Edwards Carpenter
Poems portraying whales as anything other than monsters out for revenge or giants destined to die a bloody death are few and far between, so The Whale by Joseph Edwards Carpenter is a breath of fresh air.
Photography:
“He roams the seas in freedom, with no enemies save man.”
— Ted Sherman
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Amie 🐋
The historic journey from whales being victims of industry to symbols of the fragile marine ecosystem is fascinating.
I remember in the sixties or seventies there was a "humorous" bumper sticker showing a whale with a mushroom cloud over it. The caption was NUKE THE WHALES. At the time, I thought it so excessive and demented a sentiment as to be funny. Not now. Nothing celebrating harm to life is funny. I wish people would get it. The whaling countries must be reined in. Even one whale death is excessive, murderous.