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| Whale Bones, Antarctic Whaling Station #2 |
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| Whale Bones, Antarctic Whaling Station #23 |
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| From a photo by Madhu Reddy, check out her work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mreddy/ |
| Whale Bones, Antarctic Whaling Station #12 |
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Blue whales, the largest animal ever known to live on this planet were not the subject of whalers until the 20th century.
It wasn't until then that the technology was developed where blue whales could be caught and killed without sinking the boat.
Between (approximately) 1905 and 1966 (the year it became illegal to hunt blue whales), nearly 300,000 blue whales were caught
in the southern or Antarctic seas. As blue whales can live up to 100 years or more, these hunters took the large part of
only one or two generations. Although not much is known about these whales, it is estimated that at their lowest point, there
weren't many more than 300 left in the Southern seas. While there are more now, it is possible that this particular population
may not recover.
An abandoned whaling station is a terrible place. In Antarctica, there are bones littered all over the place with huge
rusted tanks in the background that used to hold oil. As there are no animals or insects that would help these bones to decay,
they will easily outlast all of us on these islands. I am painting 300 works of whale bones to honor these beautiful animals
and to highlight the slaughter that took place in the hope that it will never happen again.
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