Southern Right Whales are commonly sighted from Cape Otway
Lightstation during the breeding season from May to October, but
they're usually far out at sea.
Now visitors to the historic precinct can see a whale all year
round, thanks to a new life-size sculpture that provides a talking
point and educational focus in the lighthouse grounds.
Local artist-in-residence Peter Day worked with a team of
volunteers, many of them children, to create the 18-metre-long
geoglyph sculpture, which shows visitors just how enormous these
creatures of the deep are.
The Southern Right Whale is the first in a series of whale
sculptures planned for the precinct, with a Humpback, Blue Whale
and Killer Whale all in the pipeline. Other maritime creatures
commonly seen from the Lightstation, such as dolphins, will also be
added to the interpretive site over time.
The Johanna-based environmental artist used Glenaire limestone,
Beech Forest sandstone, ceramics and weathered steel to create the
Southern Right Whale, whose body follows the curves of the land and
whose tail rises above the ground.
"What's great about it is that people can walk around the
perimeter of the whale to get an understanding of just how big they
really are, and climb over the whale, too," Peter says.
Peter, who has studied the migratory whales who visit Australian
waters, said the Lighthouse was a great vantage point for whale
spotting between May and October.
"They spend the winter months in our sheltered bays nurturing
their new-born calves," he said. "At birth their calves can be six
metres long and they put on 50kg a day from their mother's
milk."
Visitors can join Peter on occasional Adventure Sculpture Walks
at the Lightstation, mainly offered in school holidays, or by
appointment.
More info: www.lightstation.com