Albany's Historic Whaling Station > Records

PAINTING - HECTOR'S BEAKED WHALE

« Prev Item Next Item »

Richard Ellis

c. 1975

Subcollections

Overview

Painting of grey whale with open beaked mouth displaying a single tooth, gouache on blue card, framed and mounted with inscription (66.)

Historical information

Collection of 106 of paintings by Richard Ellis that were selected by the Smithsonian Institution to form a traveling exhibit of the marine mammals of the world. The collection was purchased by Perth businessman Kevin Parry in 1985 and donated to Whale World, now known as Albany's Historic Whaling Station.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-128-RE1999.336

Item type

Themes

Material

Width

410 mm

Height or length

440 mm

Depth

15 mm

Weight

1.52 kg

Inscriptions and markings

HECTOR'S BEAKED WHALE (Mesoplodon hectori)
Until 1977 there was no published information on the appearance of this species; it was thought to exist only in the Southern Ocean (off New Zealand, Tasmania, and Australia). In 1975, though, a mother and calf washed ashore in Southern California. From skeletal similarities to the southern hemisphere specimens, they were identified as Mesoplodon hectori, and this unexpected appearance in California extended their range to another hemisphere. This is one of the smaller beaked whales, reaching a known length of 14 feet.
66.

Verso: Smithsonian label checklist # 66 Packing case # 4, AWHS accession number

Contextual information

The paintings represent a body of work by well-known American marine conservationist, author, artist and natural historian Richard Ellis (1938-2024).

Keywords

Richard Ellis

Albany's Historic Whaling Station

Smithsonian Institution

Marine Mammals

Place made

United States

Year

c. 1975