5% of the profits support Endangered & Threatened Species.
Sperm Whale, Endangered Mammal
©Juliet Whitsett |Social: @juliet_whitsett_art
Purchase prints: HERE
"Gargantuan, captivating, and complex, sperm whales have captivated the American imagination since its boats sailed across the open sea. These toothed-whales, the largest species of tooth-whales on earth, were very nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries. For decades, their blubber and the waxy substance spermaceti in their heads lit the world's streetlights and homes, as well as lubricated new, expensive factory machinery during the Industrial Revolution. Their teeth and bones had decorative and practical use in fashion and medicine. The solid regurgitated ambergris was a valued food and perfume supplement. With their populations now recovering following an international ban on whale hunting in 1986, pods of these whales are socially complex, deep-diving, and effective hunters, and they have some of the widest global distribution of any marine mammal."
Information generously provided by:
Coyote Balderrama-Shook, PhD, Whale Historian
COLOR PALETTE SAMPLED FROM IMAGES OF THE SPERM WHALE:
IMAGE:
Image source : https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/sperm-whale
RANGE:
World map providing approximate representation of the sperm whale's range.
Image source : https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/sperm-whale
BIODIVERSITY OF TEXAS SERIES:
With roughly ~150 threatened and ~75 endangered species in Texas alone, artist Juliet Whitsett has been learning about and sharing the importance of biodiversity. Through the process of developing species-derived color palettes sampled from crowd-sourced images, Whitsett creates original artworks that draw inspiration from these distinctive palettes, as well as the lives and forms of the rarest and most at-risk. Collaborating closely with scientists and leading experts, she continually seeks to deepen her understanding of these species, contributing to both environmental education and conservation.
SOURCES:
Communication with Coyote Balderrama-Shook, PhD, Whale Historian
World map providing approximate representation of the sperm whale's range.
Check out iNaturalist : https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/74890-Physeter-macrocephalus