We found a blue whales lower mandibles in San Juanico, a small town on the Pacific Side of baja California Sur. We heard the whale had run ashore a year ago, the bones are very heavy, about 300+ Kg each, and still full of oil inside. It will be a hard work to get them clean and extract all the oil. This whale measured almost 24 meters long, about 70 to 80 tons in weight according to local fishermnen.

Advances on sculpture

The sculpture has been moved to one of the patios in the galeria de Arte Carlos Olachea in La Paz, Baja, Mexico. The space was loaned by Cultural Agency from the government, and by now, the ribcage is almost complete.

 

It has been a very ardous work, placing the bones in place to present the piece, then taking them apart, cleaning them, fixing fissures, protecting them with Butvar B-76, cutting some of them and grinding, and then re-assemblying. The temperature has been oscillating from 32 degrees centigrade to almost 48 degrees centigrade some days. But it has been a rewarding work, the Phoenix is starting to gain shape, from the heat of Baja California Sur.

 

Meanwhile, in Guerrero Negro, the park in front of Exportadora de Sal, S.A. de C.V. is being prepared for the final installation of the sculpture by the end of the year. So if you go whale watching next year, don't forget to stop by in Guerrero Negro and visit this one of a kind work of art.

The head is almost ready. It has been a trip, a lot of technical issues to solve, but finally will be able to start working on the main body during the next week or two.

The whales die of natural causes and run ashore. No harm is made to the animals: the park is very well guarded and protected by both the National Park Guards and the Exportadora de Sal crew.

Sairi is a sculptor who has been working for the past 20 years. You can see her work at www.sairi.com

At the time she is working on a large scale sculpture using bones of a Gray Whale. It took almost six months to get the permits for the project.

I will be posting pictures of the project as it progresses until completion and installation.