Fluke Sculptures
The flukes of humpback whales are adorned like living canvases, each tail displaying a unique array of markings that can be minimalist or wildly expressive. These denizens are the curators of their habitats, shuffling their living paintings in a briny exhibition.
A calf or yearling is not yet emblazoned with the sigil of their species, for the pattern develops from a milkish ambiguity of gray color to a solidified tapestry at 3-5 years of age.
In 1989 the fluke pattern of Pinball debuted in the Gulf of Maine, with her sightings reoccurring in Jeffrey’s Ledge and the coastline of Maine. Her already delineated patterns suggest she was mature, with the barnacle scars of her namesake already evident in these earliest records.
Between 2014 and 2019 I encountered this denizen on five whale watches upon Stellwagen Bank, with my best documented sighting the morning of November 6, 2017. Despite the brevity of our interactions I was compelled to illustrate her likeness with two sketches in 2016 and 2018.
This female still embarks on an annual migration south to Turks and Caicos islands, producing at least 5 calves in 2008, 2012, 2016 (Arcade), 2019, and 2023.