Whale Carving

This rather charming whale carving has a wonderfully naive simplicity and would make a lovely addition to any coastal themed home.

Individually hand carved with a sea worn driftwood effect the sperm whale has a painted distressed finish and sits upon a wooden stand.

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Sperm whales are large marine mammals, mature males can grow up to 20 metres (67 ft) in length, but they also hold a number of other records within the animal kingdom.

They have the largest brain of any animal, it’s the largest living toothed animal, it can dive as deep as 3 kilometres which makes it the deepest diving mammal and its clicking vocalisations used for sonar are also the loudest sound made by any animal.

Although sperm whales can live for more than 70 years, excessive hunting by whalers for their oils in the production of soap, candles and cosmetics has had a dramatic effect on numbers.

Prior to commercial whaling in the 18th century, it is estimated that the sperm whale population was over 1,000000 and that it subsequently dropped to approx 300,000.

Nowadays they are under protection and although recovery is a slow process, they are rated as vulnerable rather than endangered.

This whale has been skilfully hand carved by village craftsmen on the island of Bali in Indonesia which is famous for its tradition of wood carving. It has been painted using lead free paints and local replaceable woods.

Display Size: approx 26 x 10 x 31cm high