Photo credit: Georgia DNR - taken under NOAA permit 20556
It was fairly big news back in December 2021 when the right whale known as Snow Cone gave birth to a calf while entangled in fishing gear. This photo of Snow Cone and her calf was taken off the Georgia coast, and clearly shows the entangling rope.
And here is a screenshot of the headline and part of the story from a CTV News article from three days ago, about Snow Cone, unfortunately, still entangled and worsening in condition. Her calf was not spotted. Hopefully it will turn up somewhere alive and well, but we will see. Very sadly, right (and other) whale entanglements continue to happen, and this brings me to the sculpture that I am currently working on....
The still as yet unfired terracotta maquette...
And one of the two poplar boards I used to get the full width I wanted for the carving. This is the wider of the two, showing the slots cut into matching areas on the boards which will help properly align the boards while gluing. I placed the slots where they will either be cut away, or buried deep within the final sculpture.
And here the boards are being glued up to make the panel I'll be carving.
Carving away...
And here, where the carving is as of now. Most of the basic shapes are in, but a lot of refining still to be done.....